Media That Could Save Your Family
In The Syndrome, a team of doctors exposes the junk science behind an unprecedented criminal justice crisis.
A mother of three spent 11 years in prison for killing a baby she never harmed. That’s what happens when widely held beliefs based on junk science lead to the convictions of innocent people. This explosive documentary follows the crusade of a group of doctors, scientists, and legal scholars who have uncovered that “Shaken Baby Syndrome,” a child abuse theory used in hundreds of U.S. prosecutions each year, is not scientifically valid. In fact, they say, it doesn’t exist.
Filmmakers Meryl and Susan Goldsmith are first cousins and filmmaking partners. Their production company is Reset Films.
Streaming for Free in N. America on Tubi and Kanopy.
Streaming outside of N. America on Vimeo OTT
“Smartly reported...They expose the issue with depth and breadth.”
“Scary food for thought.”
“Makes a compelling case.”
Diagnosing Murder is an investigative podcast series focusing on the controversial science of shaken baby syndrome. It examines cases where parents were imprisoned for allegedly shaking their babies, questioning the validity of the evidence and the potential for wrongful convictions.
The podcast features expert analysis, challenging established medical consensus.
Hosted and produced by Michael Bachelard, Senior writer and former deputy editor and investigations editor of The Age, and Ruby Schwartz, Head of investigative podcasts at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald
Podcast also available on Apple Podcasts
Introducing: Diagnosing Murder For decades, families in Australia and overseas have been accused of one of the worst crimes imaginable. Diagnosing murder is an investigative podcast about parents who've had their children taken away, sat in the dock, and even done time in prison. All for something they insist they didn't do, shake their baby. Can we trust the science behind shaken baby syndrome? Or are innocent people being locked up for a crime they never committed?
Episode 1: The Theory One evening Kabir's baby stops breathing. When he and his wife Dipika rush to the hospital, they expect their daughter will receive the best treatment possible. Instead, the doctors turn on them.
Episode 2: The Science Doctors and lawyers can't come to a consensus on the science of shaken baby syndrome 50 years after it was first proposed as a theory. Does shaking a baby actually lead to the brain damage seen in historical and current cases? And why has the argument become so heated that some describe it as a war?
Episode 3: The Engine Room Once forensic physicians believe a child might have been shaken, their next step is to look for a perpetrator. When they call in the police and child protection, the investigation starts in earnest. It all starts inside Victoria's beloved Royal Children's Hospital.
Episode 4: The List Kabir and Dipika's case reaching its dramatic conclusion. While officials say they're not keeping track of how many shaken baby cases there are in Australia, an unlikely due, the loved ones of people imprisoned for shaking, work day and night to find out.
Behind The Scenes with Motive & Method In this bonus episode, host Michael Bachelard sits down with criminologist Dr. Xanthe Mallett and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro for an in-depth conversation on their podcast Motive&Method.
Diagnosis of a Crime is a 2025 investigative podcast series by Melanie Reid that explores how medical misdiagnosis, specifically regarding child abuse and injuries, can be misused to wrongly convict innocent parents.
This DELVE podcast investigates cases where doctors’, specifically, Child Abuse Pediatricians’ (CAPs) unchallenged opinions turn accidents into criminal charges. The series highlights the high-stakes intersection of medicine and the legal system, questioning the validity of shaken baby syndrome.
Podcast available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Episode 1: The Farmers A rural South Island family's life is turned upside down when one of their newborn twins' medical emergencies spirals into a diagnosis they have never heard of. Armed police turn up to their home, and a two-year legal battle ensues that costs them more than a quarter of a million dollars.
Episode 2: The Pro Athlete A well-known professional athlete is devastated when doctors accuse him, and police charge him, with the unthinkable.
Episode 3: The Police Interview How do you go from a successful pro athlete to the prime suspect in a criminal case? In this episode we depart from the norm, taking listeners right inside the central police station to hear the moment by moment interview between the detective and the unsuspecting young athlete.
Episode 4: The Americans It's been described as career-ending for New Zealand doctors to go up against the Starship Children's Hospital experts, so the Delve team takes this investigation international.
Episode 5: The Truck Driver A family in shock, a father behind bars and a controversial medical diagnosis at the center of it all. The Delve team begins its investigation into whether key evidence used to convict a young dad even exists.
Episode 6: The Elusive Fractures A young father is serving six years in prison, but his case takes an extraordinary turn when Melanie Reid's investigation finds there is no evidence of rib fractures to his baby. How can someone be convicted on injuries that don't exist? And what happens when the doctors get it wrong?
Episode 7: Creating a Monster As the Delve team digs deeper into the North Island case of a young father in prison, a bigger question emerges; is the medical certainty behind the diagnosis of non-accidental injury more belief than science?
Episode 8: Who Can Help? The focus shifts back to the South Island pro athlete's case as his trial draws closer. With no local doctors prepared to go to court, Melanie and Bonnie seek out international experts, and what they find could change everything.
Episode 9: Plea Deal Will the breakthrough international expert reports in the pro athlete case throw everything into question? And why is a plea deal suddenly on the table?
Episode 10: Gold Standard After going back over the investigation files, the pro athlete's wife becomes convinced the criminal case against her husband is substandard and irresponsible. And as the trial approaches, we finally receive the news we'd long been hoping for.
Episode 11: Catch Up With the pro athlete's court date looming and three international experts now set to testify, the couple hopes the prosecution will drop the charges. Melanie also speaks with the mother of the young dad still. imprison, following the revelation there is no evidence of 19 back rib fractures that were central to his conviction.
Episode 12: The Final Blow In this season finale, a second family's case erupts with a revelation that will leave listeners questioning everything. And when Melanie and Bonnie demand answers from Health NZ, the former head of Starship Hospital's child protection unit responds by lawyering up.