The Millers. Image from Facebook.
UPDATE 7/16/16:
Good news! Ashley Miller’s babies are finally back home and her battle with Kentucky DCBS is over, according to her Facebook pages.
From the “Operation bring the babies home. Support the Miller’s.” Facebook page, posted 7/15/16:
The nightmare that Ashley has been living for the past 292 days is FINALLY OVER! HER BABIES ARE BACK HOME FOR GOOD! Thank you for all the comments, prayers, and good vibes.
And from Ashley Miller’s Facebook page:
They spent all this time trying to say abuse and ended up dismissing two of the cases today and the other was ruled that it was his medical condition.
UPDATE 10/4/2015
Ashley Miller will be interviewed live tonight on the National Safe Child Show with Tammi Stefano on UBN at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT). View live here.
Miller Family’s World Crumbles After Trip to Emergency Room
by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff
Cody and Ashley Miller of Kentucky took their sick 5-month old baby Easton to the Emergency Room of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee late Saturday evening, September 26, 2015. When Vanderbilt made allegations of abuse against these concerned parents, they could barely comprehend what was happening.
Ashley painfully recalled that moment when Shell Peters, the CPS worker (or DCBS in Kentucky) entered the hospital room with 2 officers, and uttered those 2 words:
We’re taking…
Ashley painfully recalls,
My world crumbled when I heard those 2 words. I was nursing Easton one moment, and then they walked in, and then I was balling my eyes out hysterically. He can’t be on formula – I’m breastfeeding!
Ashley describes how they ended up at Vanderbilt late Saturday evening, September 26, 2015.:
Saturday night, our youngest, baby Easton, was ice cold to the touch and sweating. He had a low core temperature so we contacted his on call pediatrician who gave us the orders to take him in to be seen immediately. Seeing as Vanderbilt is the only Children’s Hospital close to us that specializes in children we made the hour drive from Fort Campbell, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee to the emergency room.
He was taken back, after the triage nurse witnessed his mouth turning blue, and put in a room. They came in and did the vitals and noticed he had a heart murmur so they ordered a chest x-ray to look at the size of his heart, EKG, and blood pressure test on each of his limbs. Everything came back good with that except the one x-ray showed an abnormal find on one of his ribs that looked like a possible fracture that was healing.
They wanted to do additional imaging and we agreed. After we went back and got about 20 more x-rays done they came back and said he had what looks like four fractured ribs, one fracture in his femur at the very top by his knee, and one in his foot by his big toe.
Ashley said that a hospital social worker came to talk to her and her husband, Cody, for what Ashley assumed was for comfort and reassurance since they just found out that their baby had a heart murmur and fractures. Ashley recalls the hospital social worker explained that she wasn’t there for “legal matters,” but that she was more of a “support” since they had just found out that baby Easton had a heart murmur, and she further explained that she “talks to all the cancer patients and such people that find out horrible life situations.”
Ashley and Baby Easton when they arrived at Vanderbilt, with concerns over baby’s low body temperature. Image supplied by Ashley.
Should Families Consult their Attorney before Heading to Emergency Room?
Reports of concerned parents entering Emergency Rooms with their children but leaving without their children, are becoming all too familiar as more and more parents are being accused of abuse, and the burden of “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” is charged against parents by hospital Medical Abuse Specialists and social workers.
The article, Are New Pediatric “Child Abuse Specialists” Causing an Increase in Medical Kidnappings?, raises a disturbing thought:
“Going to the Children’s Hospital? Bring Your Lawyer.”
The article further expounds:
No part of the children’s hospitals’ child abuse processes appears to recognize, or even acknowledge, that a “defensive” rush to judgment, which some might call a “witch hunt,” creates real, lasting damage in families who are wrongly accused.
Hospital Accuses Parents of Abuse and Escorts them from Premises
Ashley understood and was relieved when the hospital admitted them to test Easton for vitamin deficiencies to find a reasonable explanation for his fractures, and monitor his heart through the night, but she never supposed that the hospital suspected her and Cody of abuse. Neither of them have any criminal background.
Ashley says the worst thing on her “record” is a ticket for no seat-belt. Cody has been in the Army for 6 years and is a Combat Engineer. Neither parent could ever have imagined that by bringing their child to Vanderbilt’s E.R. Saturday night, that they would be going home without their children, accused as child abusers.
One of the hospital social workers, who was pregnant, accusingly questioned Ashley if baby Easton was “planned or a mistake?” and if she had ever considered “terminating her pregnancy!”
Ashley quickly replied,
“He was not planned, but also not prevented: we knew what could happen. No, I would never terminate a pregnancy! I’m 100% Pro-Life! My kids are my WHOLE life!”
Easton at birth. Image from Facebook.
Ashley recalls of that day, Sunday 9/27/15:
We get transported upstairs to a room and they ended up doing an ultrasound of his heart and drawing blood work and told we would have the results later that day. As we are waiting for the results to come back another social worker comes in that is employed by the hospital and starts to question me as a DCBS worker is questioning my husband while he’s with the baby. They then switched and the workers start talking to me and gathered some information on why and how he could have possibly gotten these injuries. She then tells us she has to go make a few phone calls and she will be back to talk with us.
A few hours later she returned with two officers and proceeds to tells us that the injuries had been labeled non-accidental and they were seizing my kids and we needed to pick a relative immediately or they would be placed in immediate foster care.
I was holding the baby nursing him since he is breastfed and start crying hysterically. My husband had to sign the paper giving them the right to take the kids and we were made to leave while being escorted out of the hospital.
They told me I could not even bring breast milk back to the hospital for the baby to have: it would need to be brought by a friend or family member. My mother ended up taking him milk up there that night.
This had all happened around 5 p.m. Sunday evening.
Ashley says she begged the hospital not to give her son formula, and that she would send her mom back to the hospital with breastmilk. Even though Easton was breastfeeding at the time DCBS seized custody of the children, and Ashley’s mom returned within 1.5 hours with more breastmilk, Ashley was shocked to learn that the hospital had already given Easton formula in the short interim.
Besides baby Easton, DCBS seized custody of the Miller’s other 2 children: Aiden, almost 2, and Kaelyn, almost 3. Ashley said that currently all 3 children have been placed with her grandmother, but that DCBS will not even allow her to go near her grandmother’s house or even have supervised visits by her grandmother so that she can continue to nurse baby Easton.
Devastated Mother Accused of Being Suicidal
Any parent whose children are kidnapped or gone missing would understandably be broken and devastated, and people would be suspicious if a parent wasn’t hysterical in such a situation. Yet, when the State seizes custody of someone’s children, parents who are overcome and distraught with grief are often labelled unstable, depressed and suicidal by the social workers who are taking the children away, and then these same social workers use this “diagnosis” as a reason for not returning the children.
The Miller Children. All three children were seized by Kentucky DCBS following Vanderbilt’s abuse accusation. Image from Facebook.
Sunday night when Ashley’s world crumbled and her 3 children were seized by DCBS and she was told she could no longer breastfeed her baby, the distraught mother went to her father’s house seeking comfort and a shoulder to cry upon.
Meanwhile, the DCBS worker contacted the Military Police at the Army base at Fort Campbell, where the couple lives, and told them Ashley was suicidal. 14 MPs were dispatched to do a “welfare check” on this heartbroken mother. When the Millers returned home, after leaving Ashley’s father’s home, a neighbor told them about the 14 MPs who had been searching the neighborhood for Ashley, believing her to be suicidal. Eventually, some MPs showed up at her house and said they had to do a “welfare check” and make sure she was not suicidal. The Millers consented, and the MPs left satisfied that Ashley was not suicidal.
Lab Results Diagnose Rickets, but Parents Still Accused of Child Abuse
Baby Easton. Image from Facebook with caption: “My sweet baby boy, daddy loves you so much, you are an amazing person and you’re going to grow up and be somebody special.”
Ashley called the hospital the next day, on Monday September 28, hoping that the lab results would give them some answers as to why their son’s x-rays showed all those fractures. She would find out that even though Vanderbilt diagnosed Easton with rickets, the hospital would not retract their allegations of abuse.
The next day around 11 a.m. I call and find out the lab results were back and his calcium level and vitamin D level were fine but his phosphate level was low which is what makes up 85% of your bones and teeth. They did additional testing and later that evening diagnosed him with rickets. Around 5 p.m. the social worker from the Kentucky Cabinet was there to pick up the baby when he was discharged around 9 p.m. and take him to my grandmother. Her name is Shell Peters.
Do Doctors who are Child Abuse Specialists “See” Abuse because They’re “Looking” for Abuse?
Easton’s radiology report mentions he has a “history of fussiness” which is consistent with rickets, and the doctors ordered labs, being concerned about a vitamin D deficiency, yet they still made a judgment of “non-accidental trauma.” Even after the Vanderbilt doctors diagnosed Easton with rickets, they would not budge from their original accusation of abuse, and consider that Easton’s medical conditions may mimic abuse. Do doctors and social workers see abuse simply because they want to see it, even when other reasonable explanations exist?
Easton’s Radiology Report from Vanderbilt. Image supplied by mother.
Easton’s Radiology Report from Vanderbilt. Image supplied by mother.
In a similar story involving Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, the Turner’s from Tennessee, were accused of child abuse by Dr. Deborah Lowen, a Child Abuse Specialist at Vanderbilt.
See:
Baby Found with Broken Bones – Parents Assumed Guilty of Abuse and Lose Custody
According to Vanderbilt’s website, its Child Abuse Response and Evaluation Team (CARE Team) claims,
We provide medical evaluations when concerns about possible abuse or neglect arise. Our team includes child abuse pediatricians and a nurse practitioner who work side-by-side with experienced pediatric social workers.
Child abuse and neglect are much too common and happen in all walks of society. Accurate and timely identification of children suffering from abuse may prevent additional injury, lifelong physical and mental health problems, and possible abuse of other children. Just as important, accurate diagnosis of accidental injuries or mimics of abuse can prevent inappropriate labeling of non-abused children and their caregivers. (Emphasis added by MedicalKidnap)
Social worker Mary Murray, left, and Deborah Lowen, M.D., partner to assess each case of suspected abuse. Photo by Joe Howell, Vanderbilt Medicine
When MedicalKidnap interviewed the mother Ashley Miller, she said she never met Dr. Lowen nor was questioned by her.
Family Court: Where Families are Destroyed Without Due Process
The Millers. Image from Facebook.
The hearing was set for Tuesday morning September 29th at 8:30 a.m. Ashley said that a new caseworker was there whom she had never met, and Ashley alleges that this social worker withheld information from the judge about Easton being diagnosed on Monday with rickets and vitamin deficiencies. The DCBS social worker testified that they took the kids due to “possible abuse due to non-accidental trauma,” as suspected by Vanderbilt’s doctors.
The judge allegedly asked Ashley if she had any questions for the social worker. Ashley asked if the social worker was aware of the medically diagnosed deficiencies and rickets made at Vanderbilt, and the social worker replied that yes, she was aware of that, but that the doctors purported that there was no way this medical diagnosis was the cause of Easton’s injuries.
Ashley then reasoned that the abuse verdict was made by the doctors on Sunday, before the rickets diagnosis was confirmed, and asked if the doctors were still claiming “non-accidental trauma,” even after this new information was discovered?
The social worker held to the allegation that they are still claiming “non-accidental trauma,” despite the rickets diagnosis.
Then Ashley allegedly asked if she could have supervised visitation with the children at the grandmother’s house, so she could continue to breastfeed. To Ashley’s dismay, the caseworker denied the request, responding,
We feel if they have any contact with the kids they are at risk for neglect, abuse, or potential death.
When Ashley explained that she was breastfeeding and needed to be able to continue to get milk to her grandmother for Easton, she says the social worker told her,
You have no say-so. All your rights are gone. Even if you provide breastmilk, he will be given formula.
Ashley sadly recalls,
The judge ruled in her favor and I was denied any visitation. All my custody was gone, like a flick of a switch.
Ashley alleges that the DCBS social worker also lied in court regarding the grandmother, claiming that the children would not be staying with the grandmother for long because the grandmother allegedly told the social worker that she couldn’t “handle the children.”
After court, Ashley called her grandmother about the social worker’s claims, and the grandmother said that she never said those words to the social worker. The grandmother says that when the social worker was questioning her as a placement for the children and her ability to handle the children, the grandmother expressed that the baby would need a lot of attention, but added that “they would manage.” The grandmother then called the social worker to correct the lie she made in court, and the social worker claimed it was simply a “misinterpretation.”
Mom Searches for Answers Regarding Rickets and Connection to Vaccines
Baby Easton at Vanderbilt. Image from Facebook.
Ashley explained that prior to being accused of child abuse that dreadful night at Vanderbilt, she never had even heard of “Rickets.” Now, within a few short days, she has a 50-page binder full of information regarding rickets, possible cause of rickets, and similar cases where other families have been accused of abuse when their children also had rickets.
Since learning about rickets, Ashley has discovered there may be a link to vaccines and rickets. She was once a believer in receiving all the routine advised vaccines, but now says she will not administer any more vaccines for her children. Thinking back, she recalls how many of her son’s “problems” began shortly after his 2-month vaccines. She recalls that he became fussy and began to cry a lot – high pitched screams.
MedicalKidnap addresses these questions about vaccine-induced rickets in the following articles:
In the article,
Are Vaccines Altering Our Genes Causing Brittle Bones in Infants?
MedicalKidnap’s editor opens with the following statement:
Since Health Impact News started the MedicalKidnap.com website in late 2014, we have reported on numerous stories where children are taken away from loving families simply because evidence was found of broken bones or other skeletal trauma.
And the article further investigates the question:
Are Vaccines Causing Our Genes to Mutate?
Although both of these conditions are said to be inherited, an unusually high number of parents are reporting that their child only developed these conditions after they had been vaccinated. If this is true, could it be because their children already had the genetic markers for these conditions and the vaccinations simply prompted their bodies to develop the full-blown disorder?
In the article,
Is Shaken Baby Syndrome Often Misdiagnosed and Caused by Vaccine-Induced Rickets?
we learn more about vaccine-induced rickets:
Child Abuse or Vaccine-Induced Rickets – Are Doctors Getting it Wrong?
Thousands of parents worldwide are being falsely accused of child abuse after doctors discover what they believe to be healing fractures on x-rays. However, far from being abuse, there is growing evidence to support the claim that many of these children are in fact suffering from infantile rickets.
Rickets is a condition caused by a severe lack of vitamin D in the diet, which can lead to a softening and weakening of the bones, making it difficult for the body to absorb calcium.
The Work of Dr. David Ayoub
One doctor who is unafraid to speak out on the subject is Dr. David Ayoub, a practicing radiologist from Springfield, Illinois. He believes that it is not only a poor diet and the lack of sunshine that is responsible for the growing number of children suffering from rickets, but also the growing number of vaccinations containing the adjuvant aluminium.
Dr. Ayoub, an expert on the subject, has been involved in hundreds of cases of misdiagnosed rickets worldwide and has testified on the behalf of many innocent parents.
State Refuses to Allow Second Opinions that Could Clear Parents
Ashley contacted Dr. Ayoub, and he recommended a trusted pediatric endocrinologist in Birmingham, Alabama, for a 2nd opinion. However, Ashley says her hand are tied. Ashley cannot get a 2nd opinion because all doctor visits now have to be made by the DCBS social worker, who will not allow any 2nd opinions. Ashley’s grandmother was warned by Shell Peters, the DCBS worker, that if she tries to get a 2nd opinion for Easton’s fractures, that the children would be removed from her custody.
Ashley knows that she has iron deficiency, but she wanted to get tested for a vitamin D deficiency to find answers for her son’s rickets. Ashley’s Primary Care Physician says he cannot order the labs for it because she does not have a “medical issue” to warrant him ordering the tests, because this is a “legal issue.” Ashley said he fears retaliation, saying that if he “interferes with the State, they will come after him.”
1st Supervised Visit and Case Plan Meeting
On Thursday, October 1st, Ashley had her first supervised visit with her children at the DCBS office, and was able to nurse baby Easton for the first time since Sunday, although she says her milk supply is really low despite the pumping. She says she can hardly eat or sleep, and is always thinking about how to get her children back home. She was offered a choice of one 2-hour visit each week, or two 1-hour visits, and chose the 2 one-hour visits, so she could continue to breastfeed as much as possible.
Ashley was overjoyed to see her children, but says it was heartbreaking when the visit was over,
It was like losing them all over again.
On Thursday, Ashley learned of her case plan before getting to visit her children, and the “services” she and Cody would be ordered to complete during the ongoing 30-45 day “investigation”:
- Ashley was ordered to have a mental health evaluation
- Cody and Ashley would need to complete “parenting classes.”
- They cannot live within 10 miles of the grandmother’s house.
- Cody and Ashley were ordered to pay child support, which would not go to her grandmother, but to the State.
Astonished by the power of the State, Ashley reflected,
They are dictating how we live and where we can live!
This is especially bad news because the Millers had put in a 30-day notice to move out of military housing prior to their E.R. trip and this investigation, and now have to be out of their home by October 23rd so the new residents can move in. They had planned to move into Ashley’s mother’s house, which is next door to the grandmother, but now due to this court order, if they move into the home as previously planned, DCBS will remove the children from the grandmother’s home. Moving into the mom’s home would have been an easy move financially, as there would have been no deposits and costly rents and leases. Now, the family is searching for a home to move into within the next 3 weeks that will comply with the distance restriction placed by DCBS, as well as finding a home they can afford on short notice.
Baby Easton has a follow up appointment at Vanderbilt with the pediatric endocrinologist to find a suitable treatment for his condition and to do additional lab work, but mom cannot take him. Instead, Shell Peters, will be taking Easton to his doctor appointments. When thinking about not being able to be with her son, and that this stranger would be driving him to the hospital, Ashley broken-heartedly pointed out,
She’s the bad person who took my kids, and I can’t do anything about it, and she is the one who will be driving my son to his appointment.
Are Families’ Fates in the Hands of “Dishonest Scales” in Family Court?
The Miller children as babies. Image from Facebook.
What do you do when your family’s fate lies on the scales of the Family Court system? Oftentimes we have reported how social workers and court-appointed attorneys have lied, omitted evidence, and even twisted testimonies in Family Court. Allegations have been made about corrupt judges and social workers who trade children as commodities in a federally funded kidnap business, bringing in large amounts of money to the States.
Parents who are accused of child abuse, which is a criminal offense, are rarely tried as criminals in criminal court with a jury (their Constitutional right to Due Process), or even have criminal charges brought against them, and yet they can be “found guilty” in Family Court, with the lowest level of evidence, Preponderance of Evidence, basically an opinion by a doctor or social worker that abuse is suspected. These courts have the power to operate outside the law of Due Process, to operate outside the Rule of Law of our Constitution, to hand out guilty verdicts and remove children (a family’s most precious “possession” – their pursuit of happiness even) without evidence that is “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.”
If suspected child abuse were handled by Criminal Courts, these families would actually have a chance to present real evidence in a Constitutional court of law, and to have all their liberties protected before a verdict of guilty could be made. Instead, Family Court relies mainly on the testimony of the social worker, who is granted almost limitless power to be the judge, jury and executioner.
Even with all the other possible explanations, Reasonable Doubt is not considered in Family Court regarding Easton’s fractures. Ashley and Cody are still the primary suspects in the State’s eyes, regardless of other possible explanations. Ashley states:
We have a court date for October 22nd for both sides to present any evidence to prove that they are guilty or innocent of the accusations. They are still attempting to push abuse charges towards me and my husband. The doctor who saw Easton at Vanderbilt wrote a statement that she felt there was no possible way these injuries could have been provoked by his medical condition.
On October 2nd, Cody and Ashley met with their court-appointed attorneys. Ashley’s attorney said she is going to file an emergency motion to return the children to the parent’s custody for routine care while the investigation continues. She said that she doesn’t feel there is enough evidence to substantiate abuse – no bruising – and she says that the fact that the family has an excellent history of routine medical care and wellness checks, shows that they are responsible parents, not abusive ones. The attorney said she believes it is in the children’s best interest to be returned immediately to the family for baby Easton to continue nursing.
How You Can Help
Friends of the family have a Facebook page set up where you can visit and show support for the family.
Operation bring the babies home. Support the Miller’s.
If anyone in the Hopkinsville area knows of rental places, please contact the family via their Facebook page. The Millers ask for prayers during this difficult time.
The Millers have contacted the FBI regarding their case, but were told the FBI couldn’t do anything because it is “in the courts.”
Share their story and continue to fight for justice for all children who have been medically kidnapped.
Speak out to the candidates running for Governor of Kentucky and discuss the issues of DCBS corruption, and ask them to return the Miller children and to investigate and shut down Kentucky’s corrupt DCBS program:
- Jack Conway can be reached here and via his Facebook page here.
- Matt Bevin can be reached here and via his Facebook page here.
- Drew Curtis can be reached here and via his Facebook page here.
For additional information, see more stories from MedicalKidnap where parents of children with (vaccine-induced) Rickets, Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), brittle bone disease, or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome have been accused of child abuse:
Medically Kidnapped Baby in Pennsylvania Diagnosed with Rickets – CPS Keeps Child Anyway
Oklahoma Takes 3 Children Away from Parents When One is Found with Possible Brittle Bone Disease
Another Baby Medically Kidnapped in South Carolina over Broken Bones – Parents Thrown in Jail
Medical Kidnapping in Maine: Child with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome & Sister Seized – Grandfather Commits Suicide
5 Children Kidnapped from Family in Missouri When Baby with Low Vitamin D Found with Broken Bones
Maryland Father Accused of Abuse over Broken Bones – Both Children Removed from Home of Loving Parents
Also, be sure to check out MedicalKidnap’s other stories covering Kentucky DCBS:
17 Comments