This is a picture of Baby Allysa with her parents. Allysa has since died of a genetic condition, spinal muscular atrophy, that is fatal in infants. Tragically, her death came after the death of her parents who were under investigation for child abuse because of the broken bones in Alyssa’s legs. Allysa had been taken from her parents at 3 months and given to a foster mother. Facing imminent arrest, Allysa’s father, increasingly despondent and distraught, shot his sleeping wife in the head, and then killed himself. It was shortly after this that Alyssa’s genetic condition, which explains the broken bones, was finally diagnosed.
Dr. John Plunkett recently posted an article on this case on the SBS Listserv, with this comment:
“Physicians, not social workers, initiate and propagate the incorrect diagnoses.”
A copy of the article from the Dnever Post is here:
Olinger D. Spinal muscular atrophy. Denver Post, 2012-04-01
This is a heart breaker, but aren’t they all. I have to agree with Dr. Plunkett’s view. The medical community is going to have to take the elevator down from their ivory towers, deflate their bloated egos, and admit there is much they don’t know, and that they are not always right. I can’t blame the pediatric medical community for wanting to “protect the babies”, but they have to get it right, and not be locked-in to predispositions about abuse diagnoses.
Phil Locke
Wrongful Convictions Blog 
How very sad. Thanks for sharing. I really love this blog site.