Twisted doesn't even begin to describe this child abuse case. Washington State mom Jennifer Mothershead was arrested for allegedly pouring bleach into her toddler's eyes on several occasions. Now it seems, the doctors who examined the tot -- and failed to raise red flags -- may also face punishment.
Seattle doctors treated the then 14-month-old girl for two months for severe eye infections but only reported her as a possible abuse victim when she showed up at trauma center with a head injury, according to a complaint filed by the Washington State Medical Quality Assurance Commission.
Mothershead was charged with first-degree child abuse because she allegedly substituted bleach for the medical eye drops the child was taking. Yet Dr. Avery H. Weiss, one of the practitioners who treated the little girl, admitted he suspected something was wrong long before they arrest. He was hesitant to jump the gun on an abuse claim, telling msnbc.com:
"Before I say child abuse, I want incontrovertible evidence."
Even so, doctors in Washington are required by law to report a belief of abuse or neglect no later than 48 hours after treating a child they believe has been harmed.
What happened to this little girl goes way beyond being harmed, in my opinion. Doctors say she has permanent and severe visual impairment, not to mention the emotional damage that mom likely inflicted.
As far as I'm concerned, if a doctor has even the slightest suspicion something bad is happening to a child, they need to alert the police. Yes, it will anger good parents who have done nothing wrong, but in those cases where a child is being abused, it could save a life.
What do you think? Should a doctor rush to raise the red flag?
Image by tjmwatson/Flickr
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Comments 27
I agree with Jespren. We don't need doctors jumping to conclusions. It's sad but it's a very fine line. If doctors jump the gun and start reporting innocent people than time will be wasted. Precicous time that is needed for real abusers.
It's a super tough call. It's easy to say they "should" have, but actually being in the situation is very different. Suspecting, but not being sure...not an easy place to be.
How awful !!
i can't blame the dr myself, i think he was doing what he thought was right. the mother is the one with the blame, she's obviously twisted.
On a side note, Dr Weiss is the opthamologist at Seattle childrens who did my son's pre and post brain surgery evaluations! Weird seeing his name on here- he is a good doctor, and I hope Children's doesn't loose him over this.
I think requiring doctors to report to early is crazy. What if an infant rolls off a sofa and breaks an arm and the doctor rushes to jump to the conclusion it is a case of abuse, more harm can be done than prevented. After treating the child several times for the same type of thing and having a suspicions something was wrong, then he should have reported it as a possible abuse case.
I'd like dr.s to not jump the gun, I have personally known three kids with the worlds best parents (the kids were my freinds) and they went through years of horrifying seperation, foster homes, ect, because of dr's early reports. One gal had repeated UTI's growing up (was diagnosed as an adult with a bladder deformaty) and they reported her for sexual abuse. Her poor family, it was not abuse, she needed surgery! Instead shegot limited visitation and a foster family, still had UTI's! Another guy I know lost his early childhood with his family because he got burned in a bath tub, his mom was running cold water in it to cool it off, but he bailed in before it cooled, she grabbed him but his HAND landed in the tub and got burned, he was a toddler. She took him in to the Dr's to be safe, he had no damage, but was removed due to possible abuse. How sad!