Document Type
Notes
Abstract
Landeros v. Flood, 17 Cal. 3d 399, 551 P.2d 389, 131 Cal. Rptr. 69 (1976).
In the past fifteen years the plight of the physically abused child has received extensive attention in medical, legal, and sociological journals. The result has been the emergence of a new medical diagnosis known as the battered child syndrome. The syndrome takes its name from the "battering" the child receives from his abusive parent(s) or ostensible caretaker. The major diagnostic features are: (1) a marked discrepancy between the clinical findings and the historical data supplied by the caretaker, and (2) several fractures in various stages of healing as revealed by a long-line X-ray. For a child so afflicted the risk of death or serious injury is great. In addition, many researchers believe the incidence of the syndrome to be of epidemic proportions, although there is little agreement as to the actual number of such cases. Once diagnosed, proper medical treatment requires reporting to proper police and juvenile authorities for a follow-up investigation and provision for protective custody in appropriate cases.
Recommended Citation
Madden, Jerome A.
(1977)
"Child Abuse: Civil Liability of Physicians and Hosptials for Failure to Report,"
University of Dayton Law Review: Vol. 2:
No.
1, Article 9.
Available at:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udlr/vol2/iss1/9
Publication Date
January 1977
