13.5Required Case Review and Testimony by Child’s Physician

To ensure that a case service plan¹ addresses a child’s medical needs in relation to abuse and neglect, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) must review the case with the child’s attending or primary care physician if a physician has diagnosed the child’s abuse or neglect as involving one or more of the following:

•Failure to thrive;

•Munchausen syndrome by proxy;

•Shaken baby syndrome;

•Bone fracture diagnosed as a result of abuse or neglect; or

•Drug exposure. MCL 712A.18f(6).

If a child is placed outside the home and the DHHS is required to review the child’s case with a physician, the court must allow the child’s attending or primary care physician to testify regarding the case service plan at a judicial proceeding to determine if the child is to be returned home. MCL 712A.18f(7). The court must notify each physician of the time and place of the hearing. Id.