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Summary: Firstman and Talan Write for Justice
Review: Death of Innocents is a compelling non-fiction that opens the eyes of the reader. The authors have painstakingly laid out the subject of infantcide by parent. They show the growth of SIDS in the medical community as SIDS becomes the answer for all deaths of infants under one year. We find out that some of our true doers of justice just cannot be convinced that particular cases after extreme and lengthy investigaton can be diagnosed as SIDS or of other organic causes. This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in finding out some of the history and causes behind death of infants.
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Summary: SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ALL MEDICAL STUDENTS
Review: EXCELLENT FOCUSED REPORTING OF A MEDICAL HYPOTHESIS TAKING ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN. A REAL EYEOPENER TO THE WORLD OF MEDICAL RESEARCH WHERE THE GENERAL PUBLIC MAY UNREALISTICALLY BELIEVE THAT INVESTIGATORS ARE ABOVE THE DESIRES FOR FAME AND GLORY. SUDDEN UNEXPECTED INFANT DEATH HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PROBLEM FOR FORENSIC PATHOLOGISTS, POLICE AND THE DECEDENT'S FAMILY. FIRSTMAN AND TALAN BY THEIR EXCELLENT WORK HAVE ALLOWED US TO THINK WHAT WE DONT WANT TO BELIEVE.
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Summary: A compelling story, and another, and another and another
Review: Firstman and Talan are obviously very talented and thorough researchers, but I was left wishing their editor had taken a little heavier hand and trimmed the book by about 30 percent. The excruciating detail of who said what to whom at every medical conference could have been pared and the discussion of Steinschneider's scientific fraud could have been streamlined quite a bit as well. This is the authoritative work on a sad chapter in pediatric medicine, but it's also a courtroom drama, a hospital drama and a psychodrama. Too much of a good thing, I'm afraid, but I did manage to plow through the whole 600 pages.
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Summary: The Death of Innocents
Review: I am a Crown Prosecutor (i.e. District Attorney) in Australia, and this is the best, the very best, true crime book that I have ever read. I couldn't put it down. I was so upset when I had finished it.
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Summary: The perfect true crime book
Review: I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this book. I came across a mention of the Hoyt family and this book while reading Michael Kelleher's "Murder Most Rare" (another really good read), and decided to order it. From page one, I was hooked.
It starts with a case of familial infanticide, then explores the earlier Hoyt case that was so important. The best part about the book is when the authors leave the Hoyt case and take us on a detailed tour of the history of SIDS and apnea. The very scientific and potentially dry discussion of research projects is told in a way that leaves you with the feeling that you really understand what is going on in the SIDS research arena, and you also feel like you know each player in this community. When the story turns back to the Hoyt case and its conclusion, the reader fully undertands the what, why, and how of the events. Without the exploration of the history of SIDS, the ending of the story would have much less impact. I didn't realize until I was finished just how personal the book had become for me. I went immediately online to Amazon and typed "Munchausen by Proxy" in the search bar.
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Summary: The perfect true crime book
Review: I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this book. I came across a mention of the Hoyt family and this book while reading Michael Kelleher's "Murder Most Rare" (another really good read), and decided to order it. From page one, I was hooked.
It starts with a case of familial infanticide, then explores the earlier Hoyt case that was so important. The best part about the book is when the authors leave the Hoyt case and take us on a detailed tour of the history of SIDS and apnea. The very scientific and potentially dry discussion of research projects is told in a way that leaves you with the feeling that you really understand what is going on in the SIDS research arena, and you also feel like you know each player in this community. When the story turns back to the Hoyt case and its conclusion, the reader fully undertands the what, why, and how of the events. Without the exploration of the history of SIDS, the ending of the story would have much less impact. I didn't realize until I was finished just how personal the book had become for me. I went immediately online to Amazon and typed "Munchausen by Proxy" in the search bar.
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Summary: Incredibly well-researched
Review: I have read many true-crime books, and this one really stands out from the crowd. The authors did an amazing job of researching not only the crime, but the history and politics of SIDS and apnea.
This is one of the few books that I told friends about, starting with "I'm reading the most interesting book ..."
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Summary: Must reading for medical and legal professionals and others
Review: I recommend this book to true-crime enthusiasts; pediatricians, family physicians, nurses and anyone engaged in health care delivery; to health policy and health research technocrats; to social workers; to law enforcement professionals; and to anyone who wants to understand how mothers can smother their infant children ? and almost get away with it. It is a journalistic treatment of what has become to be know as "Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy," where mothers surreptitiously inflict harm on their children to gain the comforting attention of their physicians and others. This story was the basis of a "Sixty Minutes" segment aired around 2001. Story starts with the prosecution of Stephen Van Der Sluys for the death of his 16-month-old son in Upstate New York in 1977, asserting that the death was due to deliberate smothering by a parent and not the medically fashionable "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome." The "SIDS" Syndrome had considerable medical support. A National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Foundation existed to increase general awareness, and the selling and use of breathing monitors for sleeping infants had become a big business. But prosecution expert Linda Morton, forensic pathologist from Dallas had seen many cases of child abuse that family physicians overlooked or attributed to SIDS. How many more cases of murder had been explained away by SIDS? And is SIDS something that can "run in a family"? "Death Of Innocents" goes on to tell the disturbing story of the family of Waneta and Timothy Holt in which several infant children died SIDS-classifiable deaths occurred -- always privately when only Waneta Holt was alone with them. In 1994, Waneta Holt was tried for murders committed two decades earlier. The prosecution represents a case of law examining science. Alfred Steinschneider, M.D., Ph.D. had made a career out of SIDS and a portion of the data in one of his articles in a scientific journal had described the Holt family. Although the identity of the "SIDS" infant patients was masked, prosecutors were able to identify the cases from public health records. The discovery, case-building and trial make exciting reading. And beyond this, the story is fascinating because it is a case of Law correcting Science. Although many scientific experts had assumed that SIDS can "run in a family," there was no unimpeachable scientific evidence for this based on "near miss" SIDS episodes recorded be sleep/breathing monitors under controlled circumstances. The "scientific conclusion" of SIDS running in families was based more on assumption than on hard science or high epistemological standards. One expert's assumption became a mass of experts' unexamined opinions. The appearance of Dr. Steinschneider as a defense witness put his science on trial. Firstman and Talan's "Death Of Innocents" is a truly momentous story. And like a mountain, their story can be viewed from its many aspects -- medical, scientific, legal and social. It is many stories -- of an attention-starved loser who kept killing her babies, of prosecutors who were not afraid to take on "medical scientists" and of the growth and modification of a medico- scientific theory. Firstman and Talan have produced an authoritative chronicle and encyclopedic work which will stand up to scrutiny from all directions. The important take-home message from this book is that SIDS is, indeed, a natural and infrequent phenomenon. It can be a valid explanation for the loss of one infant in a family. But when a family loses a second infant to apnea (cessation of breathing), the circumstances must be examined very carefully.
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Summary: A marvelous picture of medicine and murder
Review: Not exactly easy reading. The whole section on the rise and fall (or at least questionable) of the apnea theory was a little bias to me. But a great narration nevertheless. The care taken and amount of research done certainly made this book a model of `journalistic-novel' committed to exploring the various sides of the story.
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Summary: Must read by all in pediatrics and clinical research
Review: Pediatricians as well as clinical researchers will not only enjoy this book but will find that it will help them in their practice. Arrogance in the practice of medicine as well as research continues to be as much a problem today as it was during the 20 year span that events of the book were described. We as medical researchers must constantly question our own research as well as that of others. I have made this book required reading by the pediatric residents I work with. It has provoked great discussions with my peers as well as my students. It is a great narrative of a tragedy and easy to read by those in the field as well as the lay public. Ron Sklar M.D. Portland, Oregon
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