Urgent Call to Action – Medical Misdiagnosis Injustice in Florida
Michael and Tasha Patterson are loving parents whose three children were prematurely seized by Florida child protective services in 2022, and they have been fighting relentlessly to reunite their family ever since. The Pattersons were falsely accused of abusing their medically fragile twins, and subsequent medical evaluations revealed that they, like their mother, have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome—a genetic connective tissue disorder. The twins were also diagnosed with Metabolic Bone Disease. These conditions were found to be the underlying cause of their susceptibility to injury.
The twins have documented injuries dating back to when Tasha was pregnant, during their birth, and while hospitalized. The twins suffered additional injuries in state care due to their medical fragility. Only after proper preventative medical interventions were implemented did the twins’ injuries subside.
One of their medical experts, the founding father of child abuse pediatrics, Dr. Eli Newberger, reviewed the Patterson case. He determined that no abuse occurred, but rather, this is an instance of medical misdiagnosis, and that the accusing Child Protection Medical Provider violated the standards of care for child abuse pediatrics.
Despite overwhelming evidence of innocence, the children have not been returned to their parents and could potentially be adopted. Michael and Tasha are fighting to vindicate themselves from false allegations and reunite their family.
The Patterson case has led to the proposal of Florida Senate Bill 304 and Florida House Bill 511. These bills aim to give parents the right to a second medical opinion in cases involving allegations of abuse. Despite these efforts and the fact that lawmakers have declared Michael and Tasha to be factually innocent, they are still without their children. The situation has been described by former dependency judge and Florida Representative Patt Maney as a ‘miscarriage of justice’, highlighting the urgent need for action and effective reform.
The Florida Department of Health/Children’s Medical Services Program oversees the Child Protection Team in Florida, which misdiagnosed the Patterson twins, leading to the cascade of injustice that the family has needlessly endured. The Child Protection Medical Provider who wrongfully diagnosed the Patterson twins as abused was not certified in Child Protection by the State of Florida at the time she made the allegations against Michael and Tasha, and even more troubling, she was not certified during their trial, where she gave damaging testimony. This same physician is no longer a part of Child Protection Services, yet the Pattersons are still trying to undo the damage she caused nearly three years ago.
Using the template in the tab below, please email DCF Secretary Taylor Hatch, DCF Chief of Staff Samuel Kerce, and the Statewide Child Protection Team Medical Director, Dr. Carol Lilly.
Respectfully ask them to help undo the harm to the Patterson family and reunite Michael and Tasha with their children. Your support is crucial in this fight for justice.
Here's how you can help us reunite this family
EMAIL THOSE INVOLVED
Email the DCF and SCPT officials listed below (mobile users, tapping the mail link will provide a pre-formatted and addressed email, simply personalize with your name)
- DCF Secretary Taylor Hatch (taylor.hatch@myflfamilies.com)
- DCF Secretary Taylor Hatch (sam.kerce@myflfamilies.com)
- Statewide Child Protection Team Medical Director Dr. Carol Lilly (cmlilly@usf.edu)
Template:
I am deeply troubled that, despite overwhelming evidence of innocence, Michael and Tasha Patterson’s children have not been returned to their care and are potentially going to be adopted.
A misdiagnosis of abuse by a doctor is an irresponsible action that presents a grave risk to innocent parents and their medically fragile children. The flawed methodology and increased incorporated bias used – mainly circular reasoning and mistaken beliefs – can be convincing because repeating missteps over time makes them seem self-evident. Judges, prosecutors, and child protective services are not immune; they fall prey to this logical fallacy: If an expert says it’s true, it must be true. Because if they don’t know, then who does?
But what if an expert is wrong? Factually innocent families like the Pattersons are needlessly fractured, and irreparable harm is done to their children.
It has been nearly three years, and the Patterson family needs to be reunited. Former dependency judge and Florida Representative Patt Maney called the Patterson case a ‘miscarriage of justice’, and I agree.
Please act swiftly and help reunite Michael and Tasha with their children.
Respectfully submitted,
YOUR NAME