S07 E07: Selling a Story
5/7/20261 hr 4 min
Stories of “false” allegations of child abuse build on each other to paint the picture of a widespread problem that can affect anyone who brings there child into a hospital. None have made more of an impact than those featured in Take Care of Maya. The first half of this season was dedicated to John Stewart, and 15-month-old Knowellan Kelly, but what about the other 3 families shown at the end of Take Care of Maya? A story is spun about how these parents were wronged by the system, but there’s a stark omission of what actually happened to their children–how they ended up at the hospital in the first place. Today we look at the truth behind the narrative about Dr. Sally Smith. Featuring: Matthew Torbenson, Assistant District Attorney Dr. Jill Glick, Child Abuse Pediatrician Dr. Sally Smith, Child Abuse Pediatrician
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First 90 secondsAndrea Dunlop· Host0:02
[intro music] True Story Media. Please note that this show discusses child abuse, which may be difficult for some listeners. For resources about abusive head trauma, go to shakenbaby.org. [music] The spate of media coverage and lawsuits attacking child abuse pediatricians follow a particular kind of logic. If you can round up a few parents who say they were falsely accused by a certain doctor, this is evidence in and of itself that the doctor is the problem. I've also noticed a trend of using one big splashy story. Often as not, it's a complicated Munchausen by proxy story like Justina Pelletier, Maya Kowalski, or the Steltz case in Pennsylvania, as sort of a Trojan horse to usher in a series of other, quote, "falsely accused parents" in rapid succession, usually including even less detail and nuance than the more headline-grabbing main anecdote. And in this way, the issue is made to look systemic. Wisconsin DA Matthew Torbenson has noticed this as well.
Matthew Torbenson· Guest1:03
I think it's because people highlight one particular case and then make the circumstances of that case seem as though that's how every case and every situation exists. So I, I think what the defense does really well in this area, they grab the media's attention, and they send a message out through the media, um, and if that media narrative that they're selling proves to be false, the media does nothing to correct that narrative. They just