How the State of Oregon Kidnapped Our Son

Unexplained Injury

On November 8th, 2011 we noticed my son was feeling some pain and was running a low grade fever (100.2° F). I was concerned so I called an advice nurse that my wife's insurance provided. The nurse on the line was very polite and recommended that we go to the ER because my son was only five weeks old. Her concern was that at that age a fever could mean something was seriously wrong and we needed to have it examined.

The First Hospital 

We went to the local hospital in our home town to see a doctor there. Upon arrival the triage nurse performed her introductory evaluation, noting that there were "no bruises, swelling, or any external abnormalities" while also noting that "all four extremities are moving strongly and equally." 

We were brought to a room in the ER where a doctor performed a number of tests. This included a hip flexing check and saw that the legs were pulled up tightly towards the abdomen. He explained that sometimes when babies have abdominal pain they'll pull their legs in tightly. While the doctor manipulated my son's legs he let out a very loud scream, quite unlike we had heard before. This was very different than the experience with the triage nurse just minutes before.

The doctor ordered an x-ray to view my son's abdomen and hips. The doctor's belief was that their could possible be an obstruction in my son's intestines causing the pain. 

The X-Ray Technician

My wife needed to return home at this point. In our haste to get to the ER we had forgotten to bring a change of clothes and diapers, and while there our son soiled his outfit. I stayed and the x-ray technician came in to take a number of images. At one point while we were moving my son the x-ray technician looked at me in a confused way and asked if the doctor had mentioned anything about my son's left leg. I replied that he hadn't other than a possible abdominal issue. 

The technician left after taking his initial x-rays, and came back half an hour later. He was told to take specific pictures of the leg. He then came in again one more time after another half an hour to take a clearer picture of the leg. My wife had returned at this point and the Doctor came in and told us that our son had a spiral femur fracture (We later learned that it was actually an oblique fracture and not a spiral). The doctor informed us that as protocol he had to notify the authorities and an investigation would take place. (It was also noted that he had gaseous distention from the x-rays)

The First Police Office

We spoke to the police officer that came to see us and explained that there hadn't been anything traumatic that happened. Nobody dropped him, no one fell with him, nothing happened. While we spoke to the police officer we mentioned we came in because our son was having abdominal pain, thought to be bad gas, and a low grade fever. We mentioned that he had no bruises (which was confirmed by a nurse that was in the room at the time) and we told him we had no idea there was a fracture. Our son hadn't screamed in pain as he did until the doctor manipulated his leg.

My son was only mildly more fussy than normal prior to our visit, and as young parents we thought that as long as he was eating he was okay. The night before we also noticed a fever and we went to the store so he could have baby Tylenol and Gripe Water (Natural medicine to reduce gas). This seemed to work as it lowered his temp and calmed him down.

The Children's Hospital

The Children's Hospital was notified. Their EMT crew and a pediatrician arrived and wrapped up my son's leg. My son was transferred to the Children's Hospital in an ambulance with my wife. I had to run home and pick up some things for my son, and then I drove out there myself. 

While in the ambulance, my wife was able to hear a pediatrician and an EMT discuss that they thought this was clearly abuse and that it was only protocol to bring a parent. When they arrived at the Children's Hospital a complete trauma workup was performed on my son. It was noted again that there were no bruises, swelling, lesions, abrasions, and that my son was content beyond his leg. It was noted that my son had extra cartilage on his skull but it was not trauma related, and I remember wondering what that meant. My son showed no symptoms of being in any pain or distress, though he did have a low grade fever. 

My wife had been advised to ask the ER doctor what could cause such injuries in an infant. She was rudely told that "It was either child abuse or you're lying (about there being no accident)." 

My son was sent to have a head CT done immediately. His results came back perfectly normal. There was no bleeding on the brain, no hemorrhaging, no skull fractures, or signs of trauma. My wife requested that a new doctor be placed with our son after the encounter with the previous doctor, and was given an advanced resident to look over our son. A full blood workup was run, including a spinal tap, to check for infection because of his low grade fever. My son, minus the blood drawing, remained content, fed well, and soothed easily. It was very hard for the doctors to draw blood from our son, and it took quite a lot of time for them to finally get anything, causing my son great pain in the process. On the spinal tap, one of the residents missed the spinal fluid and hit a vein, causing blood to become mixed in with the spinal fluid. They also took new x-rays while in the Children's Hospital ER. Even after taking the blood, a number of tests were lost or not valid. 

The Inpatient Room

We were eventually moved to an inpatient room. They tried to draw more blood during the night, but they didn't tell us what the blood was being drawn for. We were also informed not to feed our son throughout the night so they could reset the bone, and he cried through the night in hunger pains. We followed the directions we were given. Despite all this, he wasn't given any medication because he was still soothing himself. The room was very cold at night, yet my son maintained a high temperature and was even sweating. None of the nurses adjusted the temperature at night, nor did they tell us how. 

In the morning a new nurse came in and said my wife could feed our son. They took a full skeletal survey in the morning where they noted a number of fractures. These inculded:

• An acute left femoral diaphysis angulated oblique fracture, 
• Age-indeterminate bilateral distal femoral, 
• Probable left and right proximal tibia metaphyseal corner fractures, 
• Probable age-indeterminate left proximal humeral metaphyseal corner fracture, 
• Probable partially healed proximal right tibia and fibula fracture, 
• And healing bilateral rib fractures (Probably three). 

Note, the only fully confirmed fracture has been the left femur fracture and an age-indeterminate posterior rib fracture. This is also the point where they say it was on oblique fracture and not a spiral. A doctor came in to look at my son's eyes. She saw no retinal hemorrhaging, but noticed a mild discoloration in his eyes. She called in a superior who also noted that there was nothing wrong with his eyes, but that he did have mild discoloration. Again, My son was only 5 weeks old at the time. 

My son had seen many different doctors in this time, all noting that he look healthy an happy. My son had been in for a 1 week check, 2 week check, at about 3 1/2 weeks he was circumcised, he had visited the hospital twice because he was jaundice, and my wife's midwife had also seen him during one of her post birth visits the day before we went to the hospital.

They attempted to draw more blood, and continued to be unsuccessful, taking a full second day to gather the blood needed to send out for the Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) test and a few other tests regarding bone health. He was still on no medication until they decided to put an IV in his head where they used morphine. They took an abdominal CT because my son had high liver enzymes, but his CT came back perfectly normal. He was put into a Pavlik harness to help heal his femur fracture. 

The State Intervenes

A Child Protective Services (CPS) worker, a detective, and a police captain interviewed me, my wife, and my wife's parents. They agreed that everything we have said had been consistent. There hasn't been any trauma, and certainly no outward signs abuse. The police never filed criminal charges.

We had to appear in court for an emergency hearing as requested by CPS. I had already obtained a lawyer but my wife hadn't had time yet. During the hearing the judge seemed to want to give us both of our children back. But CPS boldly lied and said there was liver damage and stated that all fractures were fact, rather than possibilities. The judge reluctantly had our son put into a "Medical" foster home, while allowing us to keep our daughter (As long as we were in sight and sound of Linda's parents with our daughter).

At 3 Months

CPS continued to hold our son, and was attacking our parenting skills and the well being of both of our children. We had 3 1-hour visits a week with our son, and during that last month we discovered that our son now had an umbilical hernia (which may have been developing while he was still with us). We asked CPS to take our son to see a doctor, but they informed us they had another appointment set up for his two month check and will have it looked at than. 

We have since discovered that our son does have low calcium, low vitamin D, high alkaline phosphatase. We have looked into many different possibilities, including OI, Rickets, Temporary Brittle Bone Disease (TBBD), and other diseases that could have caused this. The OI test came back negative, but there are other options, but at this time it was very difficult to have our son tested. 

Back in the Womb

My wife had a rough pregnancy because of his size. We discovered that she has a retroverted uterus. This made our son's birth even tougher. He was born at 41 5/7 weeks by induction with pitocin. My son had severe shoulder dystocia during birth, and had an initial APGAR score of 3, taking a full minute to even breath. During the later stages of pregnancy my son was unable to move much, but certainly was noticeable due to his large size. My son only moved at night when my wife was able to lay flat, especially during the third trimester. His birth weight was 9lbs 7oz and 21 1/2 inches. 

The Judicial Hearing

We started the Judicial Hearing Process on January 5th, 2011. The hearings were held on the 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 18th. One of the worst problems with this process is that it is held in the Juvenile Courts, and rather than using "Beyond a reasonable doubt" they use "Preponderance of Evidence" which refers to balancing the evidence (50/50), and whichever side is over the 50% mark wins the case. 

We clearly should have had more than enough evidence to prove that we had not abused our son. Firstly, it was made clear that the hospital had lost blood tests, including a very important vitamin D, phosphorus, ionized calcium, and the PTH tests, all vital for diagnosing Rickets. They also noted elevated liver enzymes related to bone breaks which were elevated even higher after our son was in foster care, after declining to a normal level at the hospital. 

The Expert and the Villain

We had hired Dr. David Ayoub to testify about what he saw from the x-ray and CT images. He testified that he could see from the radiological evidence that our son had neonatal rickets. Dr. Ayoub even had images taken directly from My son's X-rays and CT scans to show these signs. 

The state provided numerous medical witnesses, and each of these witnesses, except Dr. Villain (A Child abuse Expert who has been certified by American Board of Pediatrics, Child Abuse Pediatrics since 2009), had admitted that if our son had a medical condition of bone fragility that it could explain his fractures. It was also noted that our son had no bleeding on the brain, no subdural bleeding, no retinal hemorrhaging, no bruising, no swelling, no internal organ damage, no brain damage, no cuts or lesions, and no tissue damage. The only thing noted were the unexplained bone fractures without local tissue trauma. 

It was even noted in court that there was very likely a new rib fracture after our son was placed in foster care. There was even a physician's assistant who noted that if our son did have bone fragility he himself could have accidentally broken our son's ribs during a routine well baby check. 

The ER doctor who saw our son when we brought him to the hospital still can't give a clear answer about whether or not he broke our son's femur, and when asked on the stand said "I don't believe I did." rather than a simple yes or no. The pediatrician who is currently seeing our son was even confused why they were calling this abuse when there clearly were other things that needed to be looked at first, and recommended that our son see and endocrinologist and geneticist. 

There were two doctors who testified that the obvious fact that all of the normal signs of abuse were missing meant it was unlikely to be abuse when evaluating the differential diagnosis. 

The State recalled two of their medical witnesses to discredit Dr. Ayoub's work simply because his current study hadn't been published in a peer reviewed journal yet. Dr. Villain (who had never actually seen our son, nor viewed his full medical history) claimed that he didn't care if our son had a medical condition. He (in a very belligerent attitude)believed that this was abuse anyways, and would not be convinced otherwise.

The Judge's Ruling

So the Judge erred on the side of caution and adjudicated my wife and I of abusing our son. We we able to keep our daughter home with us, because she was in perfect health. He even stated that we should bring new medical evidence to him should we have any.

We tried to have CPS take our son to specialist to evaluate him, and the judge even order them to do it. This never happened. We fought for our innocence, and after 17 month we got our son back. The verdict hadn't changed, but the judge had decided that we were trustworthy enough to have our son back.

The new evidence

In 2013 we finally had the opportunity to have our son evaluated by a endocrinologist at the very same children's hospital. They thought the situation was very odd. While they found no endocrine problems, they suggest that our son be evaluated for Ehlers-Danlos with a geneticist.

We finally were able to see the very busy geneticist in 2014, and they said that our son clearly has Ehlers-Danlos type-III (Hypermobility). We were told that his was very likely the reason our son was injured without a traumatic accident. We thought that it was great to finally know what we as a family were dealing with. The syndrome isn't life threatening for our son, but it isn't a simple disorder either. He deals with fatigue and soreness frequently.

We haven't been able to return to court, because it is very difficult to find an attorney who wants to reopen finished cases.

We didn't abuse our son, and they shouldn't be able to take our son like this without reasonable cause. 

Our story has been passed on, and we hope people continue to share it. So please repost and spread the word about this huge injustice to all your friends and family. This isn't about just our family anymore. This scenario is happening over and over again all across the country and internationally. So please share this story, it may help a family be saved.

State Sanctioned Kidnapping

U.S. Observer

By Jim Dossett

Jim Dossett's Grandchildren

My understanding of the court system was similar to most Americans understanding of it. We read about court proceedings online, in newspapers and we hear about them on TV. Obey the law, no problem. Disobey the law and we have the finest system going. Our system compared to many is far and away the best. However it has, as I have come to learn, certain flaws that have evolved and have tilted the scales of justice.

My understanding of the court system in a nut shell was that, truth is found by careful and dutiful dissection in the court room. Evidence is paramount and lies are dissolved. Unfortunately politics, ego and dollars have consumed it.

This is our story. It could happen to anyone. It has and is happening here (Yamhill County Oregon) and around the country. Families are caught up in the bureaucratic functions of state departments so consumed by their internal policies that any attempt to cast reason their way is met with condemnation. That condemnation is supported by their superior understanding of the legal system. It did not happen overnight. Over years and decades, laws have been generated that enable government to pursue an agenda that would normally be considered unconstitutional by most American standards. In Oregon the Department of Human Services (DHS) primarily pursues court actions through the juvenile court system. The opposing party is put on the defense. An opposing party is considered guilty until proven innocent. In cases like ours the judge is the decider, no jury required. The State has unlimited funds for legal representation and experts. Unless money is of no consequence to those challenging the state, a public defender is the degree of legal help most receive. Money was of a consequence to us though we soon found out, that a public defender is not the best option in today’s court. Time is of no consequence to DHS. Once embroiled in a court case they are exacting their job description. Whereas their opponents have to shift, maneuver and crunch their daily lives at the expense of the system. Understand that court is only held during the work week and during normal working hours.

My experience with the system was brought on by an injustice that occurred in my family. I am the grandfather of an infant that was stricken with rickets. His parents are the typical loving mother and father. They have been accused by the State of Oregon of abusing their five week old son.

Here is our story:

On October 1, 2011 - my grandson was born. He was like his mother, stubborn as he refused to come out when the time was near. It had been two weeks since his scheduled delivery time. The doctor wanted to induce labor. My daughter was upset and concerned as she had read a lot about the medicine they were going to use. It was Pitocin, a highly controversial induction medication. I assured my daughter that the doctor knew what was best. The delivery was rough to say the least. My grandson got stuck coming out. My grandson was what is known as “Shoulder Dystocia”. His shoulders were stuck in the pelvis. The doctor manipulated my grandson with his hands for about 90 seconds which was a long time, in a scary situation. The infant was blue and not breathing when he finally inched through. The delivery team corrected his breathing and aside from being bruised, my grandson looked fine. His ABGAR score at birth was 3 (out of ten). That is a scale hospitals use to assess a child’s health at birth. He was not X-rayed at the time as X-rays are not normally done on newborns for obvious reasons. Unfortunately another infant was admitted to the hospital that was dead or dying on arrival. We totally understand the hospitals priority in that matter. Though, his misfortune took up practically the entire hospitals attention, which included the pediatrician on duty. Although close monitoring of my grandson by the pediatrician had been requested by the delivery doctor, it did not occur.

To top off my grandsons condition he had jaundice. Not severely but it took a few days to clear up. (In the past year I have researched many publications and presentations, one of particular interest for our case was a Dr. Sabah Serveas. She presented a power point lecture at a radiologist conference about birth injuries that resemble abuse. A Dr. Kleinman did an article addressing the problems with diagnosing metaphyseal fractures which mentions rickets.)

After leaving Willamette Valley Medical Center (WVMC) my grandson had to return the following 2 days for check-ups on his jaundice condition. The parents were exceptional in looking after his health needs. He had 2 well baby checks in his first two weeks. At about the third week he was seen by a doctor that performed a circumcision. On Nov. 7th he was seen along with my daughters mid wife. The mid wife admired my grandson during their visit. And of course the doting grandparents were almost always hovering close by. Everything was just perfect.

Clearly nothing was out of place. If there was any sign of neglect or abuse it is only logical that it would have been reported.

The nightmare that ensued has challenged my belief and respect for the system. It all started on Nov. 8th 2011. My grandson was 5 weeks old at this time. He had from birth been fussy and requiring a lot of love and attention. He was fussier than normal, and on Nov. 7th, his temperature was slightly elevated and he had been expelling a higher than normal amount of gas. My daughter administered baby Tylenol for his fever and an over the counter gas relief (gripe water). The next day his temperature was still slightly elevated (100.1). Whenever he was adjusted for feeding or diaper changes it was obvious he was in discomfort. The parents called an advice nurse that instructed them to have a doctor take a look at the infant, just to be on the safe side. It was after 5pm and the only available medical attention was the emergency room at WVMC.

When they arrived they saw a receptionist that took care of the initial paper work and had them wait for their examination. That wait was about an hour long. Important, as it must not have appeared that the infant required any emergency care. Once in the exam room, a triage nurse evaluated my grandson’s condition. Of importance is that she is quoted in her report stating, “All four extremities are strong and moving equally”. She does not pass down any concerns about the infant’s leg or suggest special care to the on duty pediatrician. Next, the duty pediatrician (Dr. Shaver) examined my grandson, noting in his report that upon entering the room he sees the infant laying on the table calmly looking about. After doing a visual check the doctor performs a hip check. My daughter and son-in-law heard and see my grandson scream. This is the first time either of them has heard him scream in his short few weeks. The doctor performed another hip check and another scream occurred. The doctor said that it was normal for an infant with abdominal issues. The doctor requested an abdominal X-ray and left the room. At 2006 hrs an X-ray tech entered in the room with a portable X-ray and attempted to do an X-ray of the abdomen.

As described to me: While positioning the child, the tech asks my son-in-law if the doctor had said anything about the child’s leg. The doctor had not. The tech X-rays the abdomen and leaves with his portable X-ray. Thirty minutes later at 2036, the tech returns with his portable X-ray and performs an X-ray of the child’s leg. This x-ray shows that the left femur is fractured. (During court, the doctor stated that he had ordered the X-rays at the same time.) The doctor advises that because the parents cannot explain how this happened, he is doing his job and starts a mandatory investigation. The parents are sincerely concerned for their child and hope the investigation explains what is wrong with their child.

Of note and surely to battle in the court room later is why did the doctor not convey his concerns about the leg from the beginning? In the judge's opinion it was stated that the doctor was immediately aware of a problem with the leg. Seriously? He ordered an abdominal X-ray. He does not pass on any information to the X-ray tech about careful handling of the leg? Had my grandson been discharged that night with concern only for his stomach what would have been the hospitals response when later he was brought in for a broken leg? Prior medical attention would have been considered thorough and no sign of injury.

Jim Dossett's Grandchildren

Anyway, my grandson is transferred to Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU)/Doernbechers hospital. There, a battery of tests is done. At this time there is slight swelling on the left leg that had not been there before. There was a skeletal survey done and it showed the femur fracture, some metaphyseal fractures and three rib fractures healing in various stages. There was no bruising, no soft tissue damage, no retinal hemorrhaging, no neck or head injuries, and no internal organ damage (internal CT scan was completed also with only minor differences in bone condition). The Abuse team nurse requests a vitamin D level blood test. Complete blood panels are done. Calcium, Phosphorus and PTH levels are also requested. Vitamin D, Phosphorus and calcium and PTH levels are essential to establishing bone strength without doing a bone density check (which was not done). The Vitamin D test was lost? The Calcium and Phosphorus were classified as Quantity Not Sufficient. And the PTH was Not Received.

Later - this is extremely important, everyone totally ignored this major discrepancy in our case.
On Nov 9th at an emergency hearing in Yamhill county court we had our first taste of how the DHS exults its power. After hearing all of the evidence the judge (Easterday) ordered that my grandson and his sister be allowed to stay with the parents until the jurisdictional hearing in January, under the stipulation that I and my wife be safety supervisors. That was generally accepted, as the parents and children were living with us at the time. At that point the DHS case worker Becky Brewster raised her hand and told the judge that she must reconsider. She told the judge that she needs to know that the infant boy had multiple fractures and liver damage. The word fracture was used for effect by DHS. Metaphyseals are located on the ends of the bones. Whenever someone hears fracture the visual of a bone snapped in half comes to mind. That is not the case with metaphyseal. The article by Dr Kleinman states that metaphyseal are indistinguishable from Rickets. And the presentation by Dr Servaes describes them as common in birth.

Becky Brewster in my opinion is an overzealous attention seeking case worker that feels that she is empowered with the duty of saving the children no matter what the cost. Unfortunately that weighs in with ignoring parenting rights, the constitution and lying under oath to accomplish her mission.

For the record - My 18 month old granddaughter was subjected to a skeletal X-ray upon the judge’s request. Her health was perfect.

The petition that was presented to the court listed the femur fracture as a fracture, the metaphyseal and rib fractures were at the time listed as possible and probable. The liver was not listed as damaged. The petition stated that liver enzymes were elevated, indicative of liver damage. The enzymes were elevated. At the time of the emergency hearing we explained that the doctor that performed the tests had confirmed to us that there was no liver or any internal damage. We fought that misrepresentation for most of our battle with the state. The judge (Cal Tichenor) wrote in his opinion that liver damage was ruled out and was not a consideration in his findings. One thing that annoys me is that we told everyone that my grandson had a low fever and that he had been given children’s Tylenol. Our research found that Tylenol raises the very liver enzymes that were being used to accuse us of abuse. Really, none of the doctors gave it a thought.

As is protocol for skeletal X-rays a follow up is required approximately 2 weeks later for evaluation of the healing process. On December 2, a second Skeletal X-ray was performed. On this one the same radiologist that read the first one mentioned that there was minimal periosteal formation on the 5th rib. Periosteal is what forms around bones in the healing process. The original X-ray showed no signs of a fracture on the 5th rib, nor did the CT scan (The radiologist had ordered the CT because she stated that it has a better modality for viewing ribs). The first Skeletal X-ray and CT scan on Nov 9th were basically identical though the CT scan reader had actually identified a rib (#7 rib) that the radiologist for the skeletal X-ray had identified as a fracture, stating that it was actually just artifact(?). The infant was out of the parent’s custody as of the 10th of Nov.When the Skeletal X-ray was done on Dec 2nd any fracture phase not on the first set was something that had to have occurred while in the states custody.The logical explanation is that a bone was fractured while the infant was in the states care. The radiologist did try to maneuver around how it could have happened. She was unable to deny that it was possible and could have occurred while my grandson was in foster care (state custody). Judge Tichenor ordered a 3rd X-ray during our first hearing to settle that argument. DHS ignored that order. Also, of note is that one of the liver enzymes presented as being elevated and indicative of a fracture (ALT) was at its highest level when checked while in the states care.

Our case was never one with criminal charges. It has always been a fight with DHS over custody. They had taken an infant away from a family without any factual evidence. There was no evidence of a crime having been committed. Yes, a non mobile child had a broken leg. There are, as I have found numerous medical explanations for weakened bones in infants. Diseases and vitamin deficiencies account for many. An infants' bones are “normally” strong and or pliable and do not break easily.

If as the experts had detailed in our case, there should have been attendant signs of abuse if in fact abuse had occurred. In our case where there was no explanation for what happened to my grandson’s femur. There was no swelling, no bruising, no soft tissue damage, no internal organ damage, no head or neck injuries.

When a child is taken from a family by the state, the court system gets involved and that is where this case turned horrific. On Nov.10, 2011 DHS took control of my grandson. Then the court system had to set up a hearing to hear testimony and the evidence. That was not possible until Jan.5th - almost 2 months later. Imagine having your child taken away knowing that he must have some kind of a condition that caused all of this and the system just whisks him away for months until you prove it was a health condition. It is insane. The parents have no drug, alcohol or domestic issues. Both are educated with a degree or seeking a degree. They have a perfectly healthy 18 month old (at that time). The infant that was taken had a rough delivery. All of this background info readily available and they take the infant away. The State knows that once they take custody, they are aware of the immense burden that places on them. They now have to justify it. The State has a huge legal team at their disposal. We know something is wrong with the infant’s bones. We make an appointment with the Shriner’s Hospital to have him checked out. Upon DHS finding out about this Becky Brewster cancels the appointment. When on the stand and asked if she had in fact cancelled it, she denied it. The judge presented her with the Shriner’s Document that showed her name as the person that had in fact cancelled the appointment! This action was ignored by the court; accept to make DHS arrange for another Shriner’s appointment. All DHS allowed Shriners to do in that rescheduled appointment was to review current medical records. No new testing was done.

Judge Tichenor heard our case in January and disregarded all of our experts, including one Dr David Ayoub, a radiologist with 23 years experience. That expert diagnosed my grandson with neonatal rickets and was 100% sure of his diagnosis. Two other doctors, one a pediatrician with 16 years experience and a medical emergency doctor with 30 years experience. Both felt that abuse was not the cause of the injuries. Pointing out that they had never seen a traumatic leg fracture without attendant outside signs of injury. Even the infant’s pediatrician who had been seeing the infant while in the states care wanted further testing done. He was not convinced it was abuse.

In my opinion the judge ruled in such a way as to take the responsibility away from the court. This also allowed him to let his DA win the case. If the judge ruled in favor of the state, it would go as most cases go. The State will control what the parents have to do to get their infant back. Psychological testing, parenting classes, visitation control, etc. All under the guise that it is in the best interest of the infant. It is a win win for the judge. All he has to do is write his opinion so as to justify his ruling. Now, what if the ruling affects the rest of the life of the parents and the child’s future? In our case with the parents, one has a psychology degree and the other is working towards one in that field. Where will they be able to use those degrees? They will be placed on a child abuser list for the rest of their lives. Would you think that it would be in the best interest of your child to give up your future source of income and their stability? Throw away all that money invested in a private college (Linfield College).

Currently we are still fighting. We lost our case in the first hearing. Albeit we believe that the transcripts bear out that the judge’s decision was wrong. He admitted that he did not know what happened to the infant. Plus how can he rule on a preponderance of the evidence when there was still doubt as to the occurrence of the 5th rib being fractured? The appeals Court chose the same course of action as Judge Tichenor. They did not read the transcripts as we requested.

New evidence has surfaced since the first hearing. Of course it could not be presented to the appeals court because it was not part of the first hearing. We are requesting a new hearing to review that an endocrinologist report done after the hearing showed that my grandson had been started on a high dosage prescription - Ergocalciferol D2 oral Nov 25th . During the original hearing the States expert, Dr. Valvano had convinced the judge that vitamin D was not important. We had argued during the hearing that Vitamin D fortified formula was used extensively prior to the blood test and that alone would have significantly increased his vitamin D level. My grandson’s levels were deficient at 20.7 even after formula supplementation.(Formula contains at least 40 IU of vitamin D per serving size)We are aware of 5 straight days of only having formula prior to the blood test which equates to about 400 UI a day of Vit D. We are adamant that the supplementation not only raised his levels, but was used along with the Ergocalciferol D2 to treat a bone condition.Which ironically is the vitamin that Dr Valvano said was not important.

At one point during this ordeal we suspected sex abuse and physical abuse of my grandson. The judicial system proved its unworthiness to me again. Once we submitted for a hearing to get my grandson out of that situation. The court in its almightiness scheduled a hearing for 2 weeks away. Yes, two weeks. All the while the infant was to stay in a home that had had suspected child abuse. When we finally made it to court the state argued for almost an entire day. The hearing was originally scheduled for an hour and changed on the day of the hearing for 3 hours. After all was said and the day was completed. The hearing was not. It was again scheduled to be seen again in 2 months. YES, two months later, all the while my infant grandson remained in the same foster care. It is ludicrous! Nothing in the world boils me over as much as the double sidedness of the court. When child abuse is suspected by DHS the state will take your child away in an instant. But when the shoe is on the other foot, the lines are crossed and the rules changed. No one has been able to explain to me how the best interest of the child is served when the State is only concerned with its own best interests!

We have been fighting this case now for over a year. We know that we are right and that the only reason this has gone on for so long is because of the states power. They control the courtroom in this particular kind of a case. They are normally dealing with parents that are either guilty or can only afford a public defender that probably councils them to do whatever the state says and just walk away. We have had three public defenders and have hired 3 different attorneys. One has stood by our side the entire time. His experience in this type of a case spans 35 years. He is determined to win. We also hired an attorney to represent us in a petition for review, sent to the Oregon Supreme Court. We found out this past February that the Oregon Supreme Court will not take on our case. We will not stop fighting.

My daughter and Son-in-law did not abuse their son. That is the truth and the truth stands alone, it will always be the truth.

Jim Dossett
ABH1 (E-6)
USN Retired

Changes could be coming to Child Protective Services

Families dealing with child neglect and abuse often go through lengthy and emotional struggles when dealing with Child Protective Services.

But, the question remains: Should CPS be able to take children away at their own discretion, without a court order?

Changes could be coming as a review of CPS practices is underway.

Police have to get a warrant if they want to search your house. Detectives have to get a court order to seize your property. But, in Kern County, Child Protective Services does not seek court orders or warrants when removing children from their parents.

It can be a tough line to walk. In one case, a child was taken from their parents and a later investigation found no abuse. That sparked a lawsuit against the county.

On the flip side, there was another recent case where CPS didn’t act on a report of abuse and the child was subsequently killed.

“The problem I have with CPS is, frequently they overstate their power and authority.” said Bill Slocumb, a local attorney.

And, many people have no clue what is and isn’t allowed when they have to deal with CPS, so parents just go along with what social workers say, trying to save their families.

But, there could be changes in how CPS operates.

“The whole idea of reviewing our current procedures and policies is to determine whether we do need to make any changes, and that’s what’s going on right now. And, in following that review, if we determine we need to make changes, different forms or different processes, then that would be put into place,” said Mark Nations, Deputy Kern County Counsel.

If CPS social workers get a report of abuse, they must act on it and investigate. One of their worst fears is leaving a child in an abusive situation.

“Social workers are very concerned about that type of situation, where you leave a child in the home and something worse happens down the road. And, that is one of the issues we are addressing as we review these policies,” added Nations.

Source: http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Changes-could-be-coming-to-Child-Protective/8G-kkji1oUuUV01-UppUBg.cspx

http://cps-victims-unite.com/?p=87

How the state encourages CPS workers

In case anyone was wondering, this is how our state rewards those who commit themselves to taking children from their families. This is the caseworker that took our son out away from us.

http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/features/2012-01-31-cps-worker-recognized.shtml

"CPS worker recognized as tireless, passionate and dedicated to protect victimized children

Becky Brewster Here is what Captain Dennis Marks, McMinnville Police Department, said in his nomination letter:

Becky Brewster has worked tirelessly for many years to protect children in the Yamhill County area which includes the City of McMinnville. She is very knowledgeable in the policies and laws related to protecting children and assisting families. She is a tireless and unwavering advocate for the safety of and the best opportunity for each child she is involved with. Every one of our detectives enjoys working with her and appreciates the skills and tenacity she brings to any case she is involved in.

She has earned the respect of our detectives for her willingness to take a stand if anyone proposes an idea that is not ethically acceptable in regards to the treatment of a child or in regards to the potentially conflicting responsibility of protecting parental rights. Becky has been a long standing partner to the McMinnville Police Department. She is able to quickly identify when there is a need for immediate action and promptly follows through with her responsibilities while staying aware of the roles that other agencies/partners will take. Becky is very aware of the importance of working as a team and understands we all have the common goal keeping children safe.

During the 2011 calendar year, Becky has assisted our detectives with many very difficult and intensive cases; many very significant sex abuse cases, including some with multiple victims in multiple families; and several other cases involving seriously injured babies often with no initially obvious suspects.

Becky has worked in DHS Child Welfare for over 27 years and assesses an average of approximately 144 cases of abuse or neglect per year. Over her career, this means she has worked nearly 4000 cases. We here at DHS thank the McMinnville Police Department for their nomination for the award. The McMinnville Branch has long known of Becky's passion for doing her job and believes this award is a welcome acknowledgement of her years of dedication to child safety. Congratulations!"

Bring Babies Home Member Drive - Update!

Hello All!

We have done fairly well in our quest to educate and spread the word that our child protective services system is corrupt. So far we've doubled our members in the last week, but we'd still love for anyone who hasn't joined yet to come and participate. This is just the start, and there certainly will be more to come. Thank You for helping bring babies home.

One Hospital’s New Plan to Catch Questionable Cases of Child Abuse

February 21, 2012, 12:11 pm ET by Gretchen Gavett

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The Child Cases, our film on questionable convictions in child death cases, rebroadcasts tonight on PBS (check your local listings). You can also watch itanytime online.

Last year, as part of our ongoing investigation into the troubled state of death investigation in America, FRONTLINE, ProPublica and NPR took a closer look at what can be the most troubling and the most difficult cases — the suspicious deaths of young children.

We discovered a growing awareness in the medical community of a variety of diseases that can mimic abuse, including hereditary blood disorders, leukemia and vitamin K deficiency.

Nearly a year later, one doctor we spoke to — Dr. Michael Laposata, a pathologist and blood-clotting expert at Vanderbilt University who co-published a 2005 landmark study on diseases that can mimic abuse — is pioneering a new blood testing regimen to thoroughly rule out these types of disorders.

“If you’re lucky, most places … do the three routine tests: PT, PTT [both blood-clotting tests] and a platelet count, and that’s it,” Dr. Laposata told FRONTLINE in a phone interview. “It turns out most of the kids that have a bleeding problem have something other than that.”

“The problem is, you have to actually think about what [test] to order next,” he explains.

So Laposata and colleagues devised a system to make blood testing as foolproof as possible for doctors in cases of potential abuse: They created a tiered series of blood tests, known as a “Non-Accidental Injury Coagulation Panel,” which can identify underlying disorders that are more common in children. And they’ve learned how to do these tests with a small amount of blood, which is key when the patient is a baby.

“I think it’s the most comprehensive evaluation for a bleeding disorder that anybody has put forth to date,” Laposata said. The panel is expected to be introduced soon at Vanderbilt, and Dr. Laposata hopes to study its efficacy and to follow cases through the system over the years.

Because blood tests like these can only be performed on living patients whose blood is still flowing, a gap remains in diagnosing underlying conditions in cases where a child has died. But Dr. Laposata hopes that advances in genome testing could someday allow for hereditary disorders to be better identified.

He also told FRONTLINE that he hopes his coagulation panel “will spur more panels to evaluate bone injuries and skin changes that are also misdiagnosed as child abuse.”

Dr. Laposata was one of a number of doctors and other experts to offer testimony during the appeals process of Ernie Lopez, a Texas man convicted in 2003 of sexually assaulting 6-month-old Isis Vas. Isis, who had bruising and bleeding in both the brain and vagina, later died. Lopez was sentenced to 60 years in prison. After reviewing lab tests performed on Isis before hear death, Dr. Laposata concluded that they contained “clear abnormalities” and suggested that Vas suffered from a bleeding disorder known as disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). He gave an affidavit in the case in 2010.

Last month, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals voided Ernie Lopez’s conviction, saying Lopez received ineffective counsel because his attorneys did not adequately challenge the prosecution’s medical evidence. Potter County District Attorney Randall Sims says he will retry Lopez.

“What’s very clear is that the major misdiagnosis out there with child abuse is missing it,” Dr. Laposata maintains, but he makes clear that there are serious consequences to misdiagnosing abuse. “Overdiagnosis may be even worse than underdiagnosis, because not only are we affecting the child, we are now affecting another person.”

Dig Deeper: Take a look at Dr. Laposata’s PowerPoint presentation that highlights the difficulty in diagnosing abuse cases. On one side is a photo of a child with bruises from a bleeding disorder; on the other, a photo of a child who was abused.

“I’ve been looking at patients with bleeding problems for years, more than two decades,” he said. “And if you show me the two children with the bruises on their legs, I couldn’t tell you that that one is the bleeding disorder. I’d have to do the blood test to find out.”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/the-child-cases/child-abuse-or-an-underlying-disorder-one-hospitals-new-plan-to-catch-questionable-cases/

Parents Beware!!!

This is an old forum from the late 90s. They are talking about some of the very same issues we see today. Doctors are over reacting and causing traumatic separations within families. To see more, see: http://groups.google.com/group/ne.general.selected/browse_thread/thread/702afc7c4c4e1ef3/ed85425ce42992fe?q=pediatrician+child+abuse&pli=1

Former OHSU pediatric nurse arrested on child porn charges | kgw.com Portland

Powered by   This is the very same hospital that my son was at. I hope this explains a little bit about what kind of staff they hire. Click the following to access the sent link: Former OHSU pediatric nurse arrested on child porn charges | kgw.com Portland* *This article can also be accessed if you copy and paste the entire address below into your web browser. http://www.kgw.com/news/OHSU-pediatric-nurse-arrested-on-child-porn-charges-139529948.html

Need for CYF Complaints Authority Evidenced by Payments

http://bobmccoskrie.com/?p=2550

Need for CYF Complaints Authority Evidenced by Payments

26 December 2011

Media Release 27 Dec 2011
Family First NZ says that the urgent need for an independent CYF Complaints Authority has been highlighted by the increasing number of ex gratia payments over the past 2 years valued at over $1 million made to former and current clients who have had the energy and knowhow to follow through their complaints.
Information obtained by Family First NZ under the Official Information Act  show a 150% in ex gratia payments between 2010 and 2011 – from $334,912 in 31 cases in 2010, to $836,375 in 55 cases in 2011. Incredibly, CYF are unable, or are unwilling, to provide figures prior to 2009. Ex gratia payments are made where the Ministry’s actions or performance have been deficient to a degree that the individual has suffered loss or harm. Nearly half of these ex gratia payments relate to historic abuse while in state care.
“CYF do an important job in difficult circumstances and limited resources, but it is essential that there is external accountability for their actions. Ex gratia payments are made well after the damage has been done,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “The only option for families is either a costly court process where CYF have an unlimited pool of resources to defend its actions, courtesy of the taxpayer, or trying to get in front of the existing complaints panel.” 
The call comes on the same day as the revelations of the case of two toddlers who were due to be put into respite care with a sexually abusive pre-teen. It was only the outrage from the grandmother that prevented a potential tragedy occurring. This follows an admission by CYF last week that it should have done a better job protecting a nine year old West Auckland girl abused by her mother.
“We have long been asking for a totally independent Board similar to the Independent Police Complaints Authority. We desperately and urgently need an independent body to hear complaints about the highly sensitive nature of intervening in families. There is a Health and Disability Commissioner, a Police Complaints Authority, even a Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal.”
“An independent CYF Complaints Authority will ensure that appropriate policy and procedures have been followed, will be in the best interests of the social workers, and will result in public confidence and accountability for actions and decisions by CYF workers,” says Mr McCoskrie.
Family First’s Value Your Vote survey of the party leaders released during the election found that ACT, Green, Mana, NZ First, and United Future parties all supported the establishment of an independent body.
ENDS