The “lung float” test claims to help determine if a baby was born alive or dead, but many medical examiners say it’s too unreliable. Yet the test is still being used to bring murder charges — and get convictions.
e; added “in Multiple U.S. States” to the title
ProPublica found only 11 cases where lung float tests had been performed in a 10-year period.
ProPublica then contacted the 12 largest medical examination offices and discovered that only two actually used the test at all, and none of them considered the results definitive proof of live birth.
Note that they were aware of which offices had performed the 11 tests they were aware of, and yet they could not find anyone willing to “[express] full-throated support for the test.”
This article is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.