Skip to content
THE TIMES USA
Menu
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • LIFESTYLE
  • NATIONAL NEWS
  • BUSINESS
  • INTERNATIONAL NEWS
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW AUDIOS
Menu

Misdiagnosis Impacts An Entire Family, Not Just The Person Misdiagnosed

Posted on June 11, 2020 by David Jackson

More than 12 million Americans experience a misdiagnosis each year, a number equivalent to the combined populations of New York and Los Angeles. Unfortunately, that number may be on the low side. It doesn’t account for all the pediatric misdiagnosis that happen every year. There is no institution, organization, or group that tracks that information in children. That could be one reason why the number of misdiagnoses resulting in child abuse claims is believed to be rising.

For one Texas family a misdiagnosis that led to accusations of child abuse sent the Troy family into a three-year battle to reunite their family and clear their names. Now Lorina Troy is telling her story everywhere she can in the hopes of spreading awareness of her family’s situation.

In 2015, Lorina and Jason Troy had their second son, JJ, shortly after moving from California to Texas. When he was born, doctors did not indicate that anything was wrong with JJ. However, soon after taking him home, JJ started vomiting. Lorina also noticed that his head was growing larger than it seemed like it should. She took JJ to their pediatrician, but JJ was merely diagnosed with a stomach flu. But the vomiting didn’t stop.

The Troys took their infant to urgent care centers and eventually a children’s hospital. Finally, doctors did an MRI on JJ and discovered a fluid buildup in his brain. While this can be caused by several medical conditions, it can also be caused by Shaken Baby Syndrome and the doctors immediately decided that JJ was the victim of child abuse. 

As a result, JJ and his older brother, Kainoa, were taken from Lorina and Jason by Child Protective Services (CPS) for five months. “A day I would never forget was the day our kids were put in foster care. I sobbed uncontrollably, seeing my boys cry as the officials took them away. I missed my kids every single day. Our house became as quiet as a graveyard.” The boys were returned home but Jason Troy still faced two felony child abuse charges until the third attorney the family talked to in 2017 found the evidence of hydrocephalus in JJ’s medical records from the day he was born.

The Troy family has also gathered media attention and were one of the families featured in Do No Harm, a series of investigations by NBC News and the Houston Chronicle looking at misdiagnoses that lead to unfounded claims of abuse. Lorina and her family are continuing to try and make changes to the laws and procedures so that it can protect families from going through this situation.

Due to the findings of the investigation, the Texas House of Representatives committee that oversees the state’s child welfare system called for a hearing on this issue. Rep. James Frank, the committee chairman, said the investigation exposed serious problems and that the hearing was the first step in coming up with solutions. “We’re here to learn from past mistakes,” Frank said at the start of the hearing, which also featured testimony from child welfare officials, prosecutors and doctors.

Committee members peppered officials with broad questions about the enormous weight given to the opinions of child abuse doctors, and how to weigh child safety against the possibility of an unnecessary removal. The elected officials zeroed in with more targeted questions about the appropriateness of the current legal standards for taking children, the agency’s wildly varying removal rates across the state, and concerns about whether child abuse specialists can accurately evaluate children they didn’t personally examine.

Lorina has said there needs to be more awareness of the dangers of misdiagnosis within all the systems involved, from the medical system to law enforcement, to prevent false charges and wrongful convictions. She also stresses the importance of getting a second opinion, since she and other families she has spoken to were denied another medical opinion on their cases. 

“We understand that child abuse happens and we’re against that,” she said. “But there’s also the other side to it, where they quickly assume the worst, remove the children, charge the parents, put them in jail, and it’s just a huge nightmare. If they were to just hire a second medical expert to correctly diagnose the child, and then go from there, it would help so much. That’s why we’re really trying to push for this law to be changed.”

The Troys weren’t the only parents testifying that day. There were other Texas families that had gone through similar situations. In fact, the investigation by NBC News and the Houston Chronicle received hundreds of reports of misdiagnosed child abuse from families all over the country. Since the hearing, Lorina Troy has written a book about the family’s experiences, titled “Miracles of Faith,” and has shared her story with lawmakers and news outlets. Lorina and her family are continuing to try and make changes to the laws and procedures so that it can protect families from going through this situation.

You Might Also Like...

  • When The Newsman Is The News: Rupert Murdoch’s Family Feud                 

    The New York Times recently published a lengthy article on the Rupert Murdoch media dynasty…

  • Kingdom of “Everything’s Free”: How Healthcare For All Can Make Your Family Sick   

    By Kip Kolson, Special for TTU Democrat presidential candidates are pushing healthcare for all. Medicare…

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

VIDEO: This Week’s Best of our Network

https://www.thetimesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Why-the-Democrats-First-Primary-Move-to-South-Carolina-Matters.mp4

GDPR Compliance

USABR does not collect data on its visitors.  For more information visit: https://www.usabusinessradio.com/contact-us/

Contact

Contact articles@usabusinessradio.net for more information on articles on this site. BMuyco@usabusinessradio.net for all other information.

Recent Articles

  • Whose Voice Do You Listen To?
  • The Controversies Surrounding George Santos Committee Assignments
  • Read This Before You Start A Security Agency
  • Points of Leadership: Transformational Leadership
  • Confidence Slayers: Sparking Sensibilities

The Secret to Making New Rich Books Work

The Secret to Making New Rich Books Work

Also in TTUSA

  • House GOP Ready to Challenge Democrats on “Medicare for All”
  • Watergate’s “Deep Throat” Attorney on the True Purpose of Trump Impeachment
  • Daniel Cotter’s Commentary Feature on Price of Business Digital Network
  • How Sal Shakir ALL IN Entrepreneur Podcast Helps Hundreds of Entrepreneurs overcome Hurdles
  • Digital 2020 Marketing

RSS The Daily Blaze

  • How Hypnosis Can Help for Successful Weight Management
  • How to Guide the Behaviour of the Little Ones in The Child Care Industry
  • Will the FTC Move on Non Competes Hurt the Economy?
  • Republican Governors War on Big Tech or Free Speech?
  • How to Prepare a London Property for the Short-Term Rental Market

The Leader in Business News

The Leader in Business News

RSS USA Business Radio

  • Starting the New Year Out Right Financially
  • Former White House Budget Director’s Dire Warning on the Economy
  • Cody Willard on the Trial of Elon Musk
  • What’s Up with New Crypto Efforts?
  • Former Vice President Pence Joins Trump and Biden with Confidential Document Issues

RSS USA Daily Times

  • Earth’s Inner Core Seems to Be Slowing Its Spin
  • The Original Series at The Times USA
  • How To Invest Passively in Real Estate
  • Fan of Yellowstone and 1923? You Need To Hear This.
  • Music Podcast Hosted by James Cox Who Has Cerebral Palsy

RSS USA Daily Chronicles.

  • The Original Series at The Times USA
  • Make the Customer Feel Comfortable
  • Illustrator Eric M. Strong Discusses the Power of Underestimating Yourself
  • Dr. Cassandra McBride-Smith’s Commentary Feature on Price of Business Digital Network
  • Does Your Face Hurt?

RSS Price of Business

  • How Hypnosis Can Help for Successful Weight Management
  • Starting the New Year Out Right Financially
  • Former White House Budget Director’s Dire Warning on the Economy
  • Is Your Child’s 529 Plan in Danger?
  • Will the FTC Move on Non Competes Hurt the Economy?

RSS US Daily Review

  • Dr. Ann Hester’s Commentary Feature on the Price of Business Digital Network
  • The Most Common Online Degrees You Can Get
  • Investigating the Potential of Ethereum Gambling as a Mainstream Entertainment Choice
  • Everest Business Funding Lists Effective Ways to Measure Business Performance
  • The Original Series at The Times USA

PoB Digital Network

US Daily Review

USA Business Radio

USA Daily Chronicles

USA Daily Times

The Daily Blaze

The Times USA

Price of Business

© 2023 THE TIMES USA | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme