The death of an infant is hard to take, more so when the loss of life is thought to be deliberate. Parents and baby-sitters have been equally accused of shaking babies, sometimes literally to their deaths. Whether they do it maliciously or in frustration at not being able to control the child is anyone’s guess, but the fact remains that the baby is dead, and if alive, scarred for life with mental disorders, learning disabilities, seizures, and visual and speech disabilities.

There have been numerous instances of the accused in such cases pleading innocence, stressing that they had nothing whatsoever to do with the baby’s condition. The incident at the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis raised questions about the real connection between subdural hematomas (bleeding over the surface of the brain) and Shaken Baby Syndrome after it was found that an overdose of the drug Heparin also produced the same symptoms.

Now, a new controversy regarding retinal hemorrhage (bleeding in the back of the eyes) and Shaken Baby Syndrome is crawling out of the woodwork after research conducted by biomechanics at the Wayne State University in Detroit. According to Dr.Chris Van Ee, "Shaken baby syndrome as described as an adult shaking a child holding him by the torso with the head flopping resulting in bleeding of the brain and retinal hemorrhage is fundamentally flawed from a biomechanics perspective. It's not valid. There's nothing to support it."

Close on the heels of this piece of news comes findings from North Carolina pathologist Dr.Patrick Lantz who has examined the eyes of over 1500 corpses for more than two years and found bleeding in the back of the eye in one of every six or seven cases. The pathologist’s study suggests that retinal bleeding is a common occurrence not unique to Shaken Baby Syndrome. The findings are battling with proponents of SBS stating that inflicted injuries cause more severe bleeding than other causes.

Since most SBS cases are built on the presence of subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, and brain damage or swelling, the doubts raised regarding two of these symptoms must be answered comprehensively and conclusively one way or the other before the issue is put to rest.

Shaken Baby Syndrome is traumatic, for both the families of the child and the accused. If it can be proved beyond doubt that there are other causes that exhibit similar symptoms to that of SBS, it would make the lives of the people involved so much better. Admittedly the child is never going to come back (or be the same), but at least the parents will sleep better knowing there was nothing they could have done to prevent this from happening.

This article is contributed by Heather Johnson, a freelance writer as well as a regular commentator on the topic of criminal justice programs. Heather invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.