Diagnosing Murder podcast investigates whether shaken baby syndrome diagnosis is flawed

Australians may have been wrongfully accused of killing or harming a baby due to an outdated and flawed medical theory, a new four part podcast investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald has revealed.

Diagnosing Murder, by The Age’s Walkley Award-winning journalist Michael Bachelard and executive producer Ruby Schwartz, reveals that the medical orthodoxy behind shaken baby syndrome, used as a clear indicator of child abuse for decades, may be flawed and increasingly out of line with international standards.

Over the last 30 years a number of serious miscarriages of justice in the US and UK have convinced a growing number of people that that diagnosis may have led to false imprisonments. In Australia such evidence has led to children being removed from families, and fathers, mothers, boyfriends, and carers found guilty of serious charges leading to long prison sentences.

It’s a difficult question – is shaken baby syndrome good science or has a bad diagnosis led to good people being locked up when they’ve done nothing wrong at all?

Due to legal restrictions the families cannot be named so all parents interviewed go under aliases. They tell their stories of having to deal not only with the death or injury of their baby, but also with a system accusing them of the most callous criminal acts.

Episode one delves into the theory behind the syndrome, including that shaking a baby causes three life threatening clinical findings, called the triad. Bachelard examine these three markers – bleeding under one of the membranes of the brain; bleeding in the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eyes; and swelling of the brain.

This medical diagnosis is at the heart of Diagnosing Murder. It’s a theory that means, in many cases, expert evidence from specialist doctors is enough to persuade a jury of the guilt of the accused.

Michael Bachelard said:

“Not shaking a baby is just good advice. But the real question here is whether you can diagnose abuse or murder from the triad findings alone? Serious doctors now say there could be 40 or 50 other causes – which means potentially dozens of wrongful convictions in this country alone. Initially, I had serious qualms about reporting this story – nobody wants to excuse child abuse. But in having these doubts, I just think of one case – a case we study in detail. And to me it’s such a clear injustice it points to the fact that something is going terribly wrong in this country.”

Nine Publishing‘s Head of Growth Lisa Muxworthy said:

“It allows listeners to absorb the complexity of the medical evidence alongside the raw, emotional testimonies of the families. It is an extraordinarily difficult story to tell but the resulting work is revelatory.

Diagnosing Murder also demonstrates the Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s commitment to holding power to account and delivering credible, essential public interest journalism, even when it means challenging established medical and legal orthodoxies.”

Diagnosing Murder will be supported by interactive digital coverage and is available now through the mastheads, on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and all other podcast apps. Image supplied.