Collateral Damage Syndrome.. A short look at the “CBS Dotors” episode with Dr. David Ayoub

Posted on June 6, 2014

http://www.recapo.com/the-doctors/the-doctors-kids/doctors-rickets-controversy-doctors-better-educated/

Pay close attention to this recap. In my opinion Dr. Ayoub is on the spot but holds his own excellently. Dr Slovis is defensive. His last comment is the most telling. ““We haven’t forgotten our past,” he said. “There is no huge epidemic of rickets. The first thing we have to change is preventing child abuse. It’s great to talk about treating it. We have to prevent child abuse.”  

A lack of understanding rickets is monumental among child abuse experts, radiologists and pediatricians. They all seem to resort to the “we have to prevent child abuse”.

That is fine and dandy until that blatant stand destroys an innocent family. It is held by many that it is better to risk getting it wrong than to risk a child being abused. That is ABSURD! The medical research is available that can clearly identify abuse from a medical condition. Ignorance, Egos and self righteous attitudes are causing irreversible harm to the infants and their families. 

War is a classic example of how this should be viewed. Consider WW II and how thousands of civilians were killed during bombing raids. Fast forward to modern bombing. Collateral damage is minimized by better targeting technology. In the past blind ideology about attacking our enemies with everything we had, worked, but at what cost?    When you focus on just winning, The result only satisfies the side that attacked. The bigger spectrum should always be in getting it right. 

So long as Abuse experts, Rradiologists and Pediatricians presume their goal is to only prevent children from being abused, collateral damage will continue.

The mind set should be that removing a child from a loving family is  something that should also be prevented and every step it takes to get the diagnosis right needs to be pursued.