NCJ Number
152503
Journal
Public Welfare Dated: (Summer 1991) Pages: 18-29
Date Published
1991
Length
12 pages
Annotation
An analysis of all 49,569 death certificates for children under age 9 in 1987 formed the basis of this analysis of nationwide autopsy rates for these children and their implications for child abuse detection.
Abstract
Results revealed that whether dead children are autopsied appears to depend more on where they lived than on the circumstances of their deaths. Although children are the least likely to die unexpectedly, overall autopsy rates for these young children ranged from 29 percent in Mississippi to 67 percent in Rhode Island. The South consistently had the country's lowest autopsy rates. Nationally, 531 of the 7,422 child fatalities that most experts would call suspicious were not autopsied. In addition, almost 1 of every 12 deaths diagnosed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome was not autopsied, a major violation of accepted medical procedure. Even with an autopsy, child abuse deaths can be difficult to detect. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy and other forms of child abuse can be confusing for death investigators. Despite these problems, promising signs of reform are emerging. Coroners and medical examiners are joining death review committees, some medical examiners are examining living abused children, and awareness is increasing that improved investigations together with education and training can save children's lives. Photographs and case examples