zlacker

>>rossan+(OP)
> As a precautionary measure, the hospital followed mandatory reporting statutes and my wife and I temporarily lost custody of David. Thanks to our incredibly effective defense lawyer, we were cleared of all charges within two months, during which we stayed at the hospital 24/7 with David until we sorted out the legal procedures.

Holy shit. Parents bring baby to ER ... results reveal that baby was shaken (article later confirms this was not the case) ... parents lose custody for 2 months. Horror story.

>>itsmem+Jq4
Something similar happened recently in Massachusetts with a doctor seeing an injury the parents couldn't explain and the kid being taken away for a while. Injury turned out to probably have been done by the grandparents who never told the parents because the kid didn't fuss, but the kids were taken away in the middle of the night.

https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/massachusetts-dcf-e...

>>cwmma+xn7
My first inclination here is to blame the doctor. Per the Hippocratic Oath, doctors need to understand the implications of making reports like this and only do so in cases where there isn't reasonable doubt or plausible explanations other than abuse. Separating children from parents and making accusations like this is extremely traumatic in itself, so the evidence bar needs to be very high.

Even if the rules tell doctors that they need to make a report in a given scenario, they should not be following the rules when they know the bureaucracies that handle these reports are dysfunctional and prone to separating children without conclusive evidence. Imo they are responsible for protecting their patients from the system in these cases.

>>danena+Vs7
I'm not sure if it's federal, but in my state a doctor is required to report anything they feel is unusual. Mandated reporter, it's called.

>>cool_d+ZA7
There's a federal act (CAPTA) that requires states to adopt mandatory reporting rules, but the rules vary from state-to-state. Some states, simply by being in a particular profession you are required to report (even when not on the job); in other states it's specifically when evidence is uncovered while performing your duties; in some states, all people are required to report.

I've never encountered a state in which a medical doctor encountering evidence of abuse while seeing a patient is not required to report it, with the exception of some states exempting mental-health professionals told things in confidence (so a psychiatrist, which is also an MD, might not be required to report it depending on the state).