ANALYSIS OF CAUSES THAT LED TO TODDLER ALEXA SHEARER’S CARDIAC ARREST AND DEATH

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ANALYSIS OF CAUSES THAT LED TO TODDLER ALEXA SHEARER’S CARDIAC ARREST AND DEATH

IN NOVEMBER 1999

 

PART ONE: OVERVIEW

 

By RFD Columnist, Mohammed Ali Al-Bayati, Ph.D., DABT, DABVT

Toxicologist & Pathologist

 

 

 

Toxi-Health International

150 Bloom Dr.

Dixon, CA 95620

Phone: (707) 678-4484

Fax: (707) 678-8505

maalbayati

http://www.toxi-health.com

 

Kathleen Butcher is a 40-year-old, white woman, and the mother of five children.

She was accused of, and arrested for, killing Alexa Marie Shearer by vigorous

shaking of the head and blunt trauma to the head and abdomen. Alexa was a

15-month-old toddler, who suffered from cardiac arrest and apnea on November 16,

1999 in Kathleen’s house in Howard County, Maryland. Kathleen was her daycare

provider and she had cared for Alexa ever since she was two months old.

 

Kathleen was arrested in December of 1999 based on a verbal communication

between the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia, Dr. Jonathan

Arden and the Howard County Police. Dr. Arden performed Alexa’s autopsy on

November 19, 1999. He told the police officer present at the autopsy, that

Alexa’s injuries and death were caused by blunt trauma to the head, and that the

manner of death was homicide. In February of 2001, Kathleen was convicted of

involuntary manslaughter and child abuse in the death of Alexa and sentenced to

10 years and 5 years, respectively, to serve concurrently in prison (Criminal

Case No. 13-K-99-38775). Kathleen has stated that she took care of Alexa as her

own child and never harmed her.

 

Kathleen Butcher and her husband, Ducman Butcher, requested that I evaluate the

medical evidence in Alexa’s case to find the factual cause(s) that led to

Alexa’s cardiac arrest and death in November of 1999. I evaluated Alexa’s case

by reviewing: her medical records, autopsy report, adverse reactions to vaccines

and medications given to Alexa, trial documents and testimonies of expert

witnesses, and the medical literature pertinent to this case. I used

differential diagnosis to evaluate the contribution of agents relevant to this

case and the possible synergistic actions among agents in causing Alexa’s

cardiac arrest, apnea, bleeding, pathologic changes in tissues, and death in

this case.

 

Alexa was born on August 11, 1998; she was near term and was delivered by

caesarean section. She suffered from jaundice and an upper respiratory tract

bacterial infection during the first week of her life. Her blood bilirubin level

was 16.5 mg/dL at five days following birth, which is about 8 times the expected

normal level of 2 mg/dL. Neurological damages have been observed in some infants

who had blood bilirubin level > 12 mg/dL.

 

Alexa’s appetite became poor at about 10 months of age and her appetite got

worse gradually toward the time of her death at 15 months. For example, on July

20th, Alexa’s mother told the child’s pediatrician that she had a poor appetite

for the previous 2-3 weeks. She developed white thrush on her tongue and was

treated with three consecutive courses of Nystatin (anti-fungal) orally, that

caused vomiting and diarrhea. Alexa’s physician overlooked her chronic health

problems and vaccinated her with the polio (IPV) and hepatitis B (Hep B)

vaccines on July 20, 1999, at 11 months of age.

 

Alexa was vaccinated with the MMR vaccine and varicella on August 13, 1999, when

she was suffering from chronic immune depression, fungal infection, poor

appetite, and poor weight gain. She also had frequent bowel movements and

vomited on many occasions. (She received the MMR vaccines three months earlier

than the recommended age of 15 months for a healthy child.)

 

Alexa developed an upper respiratory tract infection and low-grade fever and her

poor weight gain became worse after receiving these vaccines. At two months of

age, Alexa had been in the 50th percentile for weight on the growth chart and

her weight then dropped to below the 1st percentile at 15 months of age. Her

length also dropped from the 25th percentile at 7.4 months to the 10th

percentile at 12 months of age.

 

Alexa suffered from cardiac arrest and apnea between 12:30 and 12:45 on November

16, 1999 at Kathleen Butcher’s house. The clinical data described in this report

clearly shows that Alexa’s cardiac arrest was triggered by acute pancreatitis

and diabetes mellitus. It was not caused by violent shaking and blunt trauma as

the State alleged. Alexa did not breathe for about 30 minutes following her

cardiac arrest and her brain suffered from severe ischemia and hypoxia, which

caused severe diffuse edema and nerve damage.

 

Alexa also suffered from vitamin K deficiency, anemia, acute bacterial

infections, oesteomyelitis, otitis media, and mastotidis. In addition, the

complications of acute pancreatitis and diabetes caused hypovolemia, metabolic

acidosis, reduction of potassium levels in cardiac muscles and nervous tissues,

edema, bleeding, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Vitamin K

deficiency caused bleeding and affected calcium metabolism in bone.

 

Furthermore, the treatment of Alexa with high therapeutic doses of epinephrine

during resuscitation, and epinephrine and heparin during her hospitalization

caused bleeding in the subdural space, retina, skin, and other locations. She

was also treated with excessive amounts of sodium bicarbonate that caused brain

edema, hypoxia, and hypokalemia. Alexa’s treatment with high therapeutic doses

of epinephrine, dopamine, fresh frozen plasma, albumin, and fluid also

influenced the intravascular osmotic and hydrostatic pressure and caused the

leakage of the fluid outside the blood vessels thereby contributing to the

formation of edema.

 

It is noteworthy that Alexa was given vaccinations with four attenuated live

viruses when she was suffering from serious chronic health problems. Alexa’s

poor weight gain and her low food intake caused a significant depression in the

functions of her immune system, especially the T-cell count and functions. The

MMR and varicella vaccines caused the following serious illnesses that led to

Alexa’s cardiac arrest and apnea on November 16, 1999:

 

1) It caused an upper respiratory tract infection, which increased Alexa’s risk

of developing a bacterial ear infection and osteomyelitis. Viral respiratory

tract infections caused edema of the eustachian tube mucosa and blocked the

tube, which led to the accumulation of the fluid in the middle ear and mastoid

cavities, providing a culture medium for the bacteria present. Streptococcus

pneumonia and Haemophilus influenza are the primary causes of bacterial ear

infection in children and these bacteria also cause osteomyelitis in children.

It is likely that these bacteria caused Alexa’s otitis, mastotidis, and

osteomyelitis of the T-10 vertebrae.

 

2) The MMR and varicella vaccines, along with her viral and bacterial

infections, caused Alexa to eat less, lose weight, develop anemia, vitamin K

deficiency, and led to significant immune depression, especially T-cell counts

and functions. The mumps virus from the vaccine probably overcame Alexa’s

weakened immune system and infected the pancreatic tissues. The clinical tests

and the pathological findings in the abdominal cavity indicated that Alexa

suffered from acute pancreatitis, which led to her cardiac arrest and apnea on

November 16, 1999.

 

I reviewed Dr. Jonathan Arden’s autopsy report and his court testimony in this

case and found that his autopsy and his investigation were incomplete. It is my

belief that he also misinterpreted the clinical data including the results of

his own tests and that he presented the wrong conclusions to the police and the

court about the causes of injuries and death in this case. His work led to what

I consider to be the false accusation, arrest, and conviction of Kathleen

Butcher for a horrible crime that she did not commit.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

 

 

 

 

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