Study: Doctors Often Fail To Report Child Abuse

A new study finds that pediatricians and other primary care providers are good at identifying physical injuries in children that might be the result of abuse, but they are not as good at judging when to report those cases to authorities.

Researchers led by a Boston Medical Center doctor compared how primary care providers responded in 92 child injury cases to evaluations by child abuse experts.

They found reporting was warranted in 13 of the 63 cases doctors chose not to report. Most of those cases involved leg fractures or facial bruises.

The study's leader tells The Boston Globe most primary care providers are trained how to identify child abuse injuries, but they need to be told why they need to report and what information they need to provide.