Response #2 Behind Autopsy Doors

Behind Autopsy Doors

     When it comes to the sudden death of a baby, people turn to doctors and pathologists to determine what killed them. What if the doctors are wrong? People commonly feel that they can trust the final opinions of doctors and pathologists. Society encourages the thought that people with multiple college degrees and high levels of experience in their field could not possibly be wrong or make mistakes in their area of expertise. However, a video presented by FRONTLINE poses the question of whether or not the verdict that these doctors and pathologists come up with is the correct conclusion.

     A.C Thompson, a correspondent for ProPublica and FRONTLINE researched the case of Ernie Lopez who was convicted for sexually abusing and murdering Isis, a six month old child. Lacerations on the vaginal wall were found on Isis during the autopsy and multiple bruises on her legs and skull were also discovered. Ernie Lopez was alone and babysitting for her at the time of her death. This clearly points to homicide and rape right? Wrong. FRONTLINE spoke with a well-respected chief medical examiner, Ross Zumwalt, who clearly pointed out that the medical examiner that performed the autopsy on Isis didn’t even check her past medical records. In the line of performing autopsies, it is not required to view any medical records neither before nor after the autopsy is completed. Ross Zumwalt confirmed this in the interview with FRONTLINE. It is not even required in order to be a forensic pathologist on child death cases to be board-certified within the US. It was found that Isis’s hymen was still intact and that she had a rare blood disease that made her blood very thin causing it not to clot normally. This would explain the bruises as well as any bleeding of the vaginal wall. Despite the medical proof that would acquit Ernie Lopez, the doctor working on the case was convinced that he in fact did rape and murder Isis all because of the way Isis’s body looked from the outside.

     Multiple cases similar to Ernie Lopez’s were found spread out around the United States. Surprisingly enough, there was sufficient evidence to get the accused acquitted, but many medical examiners, coroners, doctors, and pathologists are not looking at the whole picture. When a child dies from what looks on the outside as homicide, many medical examiners let their anger and grief take over and automatically determine that the accused is guilty. FRONTLINE even researched a case in which a parent of a child was sent to prison because the medical examiner was convinced that the parent shook the baby to death causing bruising on the skull. However, other pathologists have stated that it is not possible to get bruising on the skull from simply shaking a baby. The parent was finally let free when past medical records of the child shown that the bruises were from past injections that doctors gave the child to save its life when it was born.
     The medical system is not questioned nearly enough as it should be. Doctors, pathologists, and medical examiners make mistakes and it should be only right if their final opinion was reevaluated a few times before they send innocent people to prison because they don’t take the time to examine all the possible conclusions.