What “The Preventionist” Left Out with Dr. Randy Alexander
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
True Story Media. Over the past several weeks, we've been talking about Serial's new podcast, The Preventionist, and the significant issues with their reporting on child abuse pediatricians. And the harm this reporting does is very real, first to the children involved, but certainly also to the doctors who are tasked with protecting them. Dr. Stephen Boos, a child abuse pediatrician we spoke to at length for our upcoming season, said in an interview with journalist Naomi Riley last month that his colleagues are the subject of so many threats that many have had to install security systems. He also notes a concern about attracting young doctors to the profession. And Dr. Sally Smith spoke to us the other week about the death threats and harassment she's received as a result of misleading media coverage that she's been the subject of.
which I dare say may very well be the point of all this. And it can be pretty challenging to unring the bell here. For example, there was endless media coverage of the Kowalskis lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children's, mostly extremely favorable to them. However, the appeal in the hospital's favor, not so much.
What are the significant issues with Serial's reporting on child abuse pediatricians?
And while we can't speak to Dr. Jensen at the moment because of the pending litigation, as we've been discussing, the people who should actually be evaluating whether child abuse pediatricians are doing their work properly are people with expertise in the field. And thankfully, there's almost no one in the country with more expertise than today's guest, Dr. Randy Alexander, a professor of pediatrics and notably the one child abuse pediatrician whose voice was featured in The Preventionist. Not only does Randy have a wealth of experience in the field, he also knows both of journalist Diane Neary's targets, Dr. Deborah Jensen and Dr. Sally Smith, quite well.
That's right, that was actually their boss. And so Sally was, I was for 10 years, 10 and a half years, I was the statewide medical director for all the child protection teams in Florida. And Sally was one of my medical directors. So she reported to me and I got to see her work. I've looked at many, many of her reports through the years on other cases. And the same thing with Deb Jensen, she was my medical director and she was stationed in Gainesville. And what I did with her, because she was somewhat newer, Sally had been around for a lot of decades.
How does media portrayal affect child abuse pediatricians and their work?
Anyway, I looked at everything she did for about six months. Everything she wrote, I saw. And then thereafter with both of them, they would call me up about cases and all that. So I reviewed their work. And in essence, I'd say I know them quite well in terms of what they were doing. I always challenged the community as I did with other people. I said, if you think they did anything wrong, just send it to me and I'll look it over. And I also would somewhat tease them. Some wasn't completely tease. I would say, if you ever do anything wrong, I'm going to call you out on it.
What insights does Dr. Randy Alexander offer about the role of child abuse pediatricians?
And they said, sure, go for it. Cause in medicine, we're used to that. And when we first start out as a medical student, we expect that our work is going to be critiqued and all the way through our training. You know, there's always somebody that's going to look it over and always give us some critique one way or the other. And so it's not anything new. It's just kind of part of your normal life that you think that way. And you don't take any offense about it or anything. And they were both wonderful that way. And then, of course, in Sally's case, I did testify in that trial.
You testified in the Kowalski trial.
How does the Amanda Saranofsky case illustrate misunderstandings in child abuse cases?
Yeah, they didn't go along with it. But I said she operationally did all the right stuff that I expect of a And yet, apparently, that wasn't entirely the way that everybody else in the trial saw it.
Right.
Well, I was right. Nevertheless.
Yes. Well, actually, you know, the appeals court of Florida entirely seems to agree with you as this recent decision that came down a few weeks ago. And we were able to we had this other another interview with Sally scheduled just to talk about the preventionist and low.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:04–1:15
2
What are the significant issues with Serial's reporting on child abuse pediatricians?
1:15–2:31
3
How does media portrayal affect child abuse pediatricians and their work?
2:31–3:07
4
What insights does Dr. Randy Alexander offer about the role of child abuse pediatricians?
3:07–3:42
5
How does the Amanda Saranofsky case illustrate misunderstandings in child abuse cases?
3:42–4:18
6
What are the consequences of misrepresenting child abuse pediatricians in the media?
4:18–5:08
7
How do child abuse pediatricians navigate accusations and public perception?
5:08–5:56
8
What are the challenges faced by child abuse pediatricians in their profession?
5:56–1:29:29