Rare Medical Condition, or Child Abuse? How Can You Tell? (Pt 2)

Medical worker running tests
How do medical professionals tell the difference? The truth is, sometimes they can’t…

Hi there, welcome back and thanks for joining us. We’ve been discussing the issue of rare medical conditions in children, and how they can sometimes lead to child abuse allegations when the symptoms aren’t correctly diagnosed. In our previous blog article we discussed what this looks like when CPS decides you’re a child abuser and won’t look further than their own assumptions.

We also touched on the team of experts that might be called to testify on your behalf (or against you for the prosecution) in a case like this!) But moving on, we’d like to talk to you about some symptoms of rare medical conditions, and the conditions themselves, that have been mistaken for child abuse in the past.

Conditions and disorders that mimic the signs of abuse

Congenital disorders that cause bleeding and bruising:

Bleeding disorders can lead to unexplained internal bleeding, and severe bruising in children and babies. These are two symptoms that doctors tend to assume are signs that a child is being abused. However, there are many medical conditions that can cause these two symptoms, including:

  • Hemophilia
  • Von Wilebrand disease
  • Vitamin K deficiency
  • Vitamin C deficiency
  • Leukemia
  • Thrombocytopenia
  • Aplastic anemia
  • Disseminated intravascular coagulation
  • Liver disease
  • Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)

Diseases and disorders that cause fractures:

Some medical conditions cause bones to be fragile, flakey, warped, or highly porous, which means they’re far more prone to fractures and breakage. This can lead doctors to believe that a child is being abused, when in fact they’re suffering from a rare medical condition, including:

  • Copper deficiency
  • Osteogenesis imperfecta (also known as brittle bone disease)
  • Metabolic bone disease
  • Bruck syndrome
  • Caffey disease
  • Vitamin D-deficient rickets

As you can see, there are a lot of conditions and disorders that can cause symptoms which look an awful lot like child abuse, but aren’t! However, proving these conditions requires expensive and sometimes time consuming testing, like molecular genetic testing, and biochemical collagen analysis.

That’s why you need experts on your team!

Here at The Kronzek Firm, our skilled and experienced CPS defense team has spent decades helping the families of Michigan protect themselves and their children against CPS. We have a wide network of experts to call on when a case involves any kind of rare medical condition or undiagnosed disease, and we’ve had countless successful outcomes.

So if you or a loved one have been accused of child abuse or neglect, call us today at 866 766 5245 and make sure you have the right people on your team! And don’t forget to join us next time for the wrap up on this interesting and important subject!


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