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Written on Jul 27, 2016
The first is about Dr. Alfred Steinschneider who based his clinical research on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) on the actions of a serial murderer. In 1970 and 1971 Waneta Hoyt lost two children, Steinschneider used these deaths to base his SIDS Research on sleep apnea as a cause of those deaths, he also indicated that it could be inherited trait. In October of 1971 Steinschneider published a paper in the Pediatrics Journal.
For the next two decades, the scientific and medical industries built a multi-million business of diagnosing SIDS as sleep apnea. Clinics were established that received generous funding from both the government and private sources, private enterprise stepped up to manufacture the home infant monitors, everyone got rich and famous but the babies kept dying.
The second story is about a prosecutor that had dealt with another suspicious SIDS death that found and doggedly followed Waneta Hoyt until he was able to bring her to justice.
The husband and wife writing team, do an excellent job of weaving the two stories together. There is no judgment in their writing, it is presented in a factual but readable way. It is an outstanding piece of investigating journalism.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia
Murderpedia