Richard Firstman

This true-crime book is also a gripping account of the difficulties of doing science in the politically-charged area of pediatric medicine. No single indicator is known for sudden infant death syndrome; therefore it is possible (and perhaps likely) the outcome of several different medical problems, making research into the syndrome challenging. In the main case in this book, smothering is mistaken for apneic episodes (naturally stopped breathing), leading to a theory connecting apnea and SIDS which leads to the breath monitoring movement of the 1980's. The paper that introduces this theory is also used as evidence that SIDS runs in families, but twenty years later new evidence and theories suggest that multiple SIDS deaths may often be murders. Meanwhile individual SIDS deaths are due to an unknown natural process, but occur less often when babies sleep on their backs.

This book will make you think about the ethics of science, the pros and cons of advocacy groups and corporate support, the subtlety of translating science for the courtroom, and a myriad of other important social issues and how they interact.

Recommended for all citizens.… (mais)

A prosecutor in upstate New York investigated a family in which three children had all died of SIDS. When he brought in experts he learned that current thinking is that SIDS doesn't run in families and that this looked like murder. The father was subsequently convicted. One of the experts mentioned that a paper that's used to "prove" that SIDS is a family disease was based on a family in New York state who lost five children. He got interested in that case and found the family, along with evidence that pointed to murder, and he brought the mother to trial.
Then the book switches and gets into the history of SIDS and its treatment. One doctor had a theory that apnea was the cause, which led to a whole industry of monitors for babies who seemed to have breathing problems. But his theory is based on very little evidence, including the family who had lost five children, supposedly because of apnea. The books is really about research and how we know what we know, and the unintended consequences of assumptions. It reads like a mystery written by Berton Rouche. Just fascinating.
I wasn't at all bothered by the children's deaths and feel kind of odd about it – several people I told about the book were upset just hearing a brief mention of them. For me, little babies don't seem like real people, and it was so long ago.… (mais)