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Doctor: Beating, not sickle cell trait, killed teen

A high-profile pathologist dismisses comparisons to cases involving sickle cells.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published March 16, 2006

TAMPA - Dr. Michael Baden, a pathologist involved in the case of a 14-year-old boy who died in a Panama City boot camp, said there are significant differences between the sickle cell trait the boy had and those of two victims he diagnosed when he served as medical examiner for New York.

Baden disputes a Bay County medical examiner's contention that sickle cell trait killed Martin Anderson, who died in a Panama City boot camp after being beaten by guards. The bruises on Martin Lee Anderson's lifeless 14-year-old body are consistent with the beating he received at a Panama City boot camp before he died Jan. 6, a former New York medical examiner said Wednesday.

Baden, asked by Anderson's family to observe Anderson's second autopsy Monday, said that it was what happened to Anderson in the videotape that killed him, nothing else. Baden said the conclusion of a Bay County medical examiner that Anderson died from sickle cell trait wouldn't make sense unless Anderson had another pre-existing medical condition.

But beyond that, he said, hospital records indicate Anderson's blood was not sickled until the moment at which he started to die.

The bruises match what one would expect from procedures they use to subdue people, he said.

Baden has been adamant that in 30 years as New York medical examiner, he never once saw anyone die of sickle trait.

In at least two publicized cases Baden reviewed, the words "sickle cell" were used to describe cause of death. But Baden said Wednesday those two situations bear no similarity to what happened to Anderson. In 1992, Baden performed a second autopsy on an upstate New York man who died shortly after a police beating. The man died of "unrecognized acute sickle cell crisis, caused by hypoxia (a lack of oxygen reaching the tissues), the result of physical exertion and contributed to by the effects of cocaine and alcohol use," according to the Buffalo News.

Baden said Wednesday "sickle cell crisis" is sickle cell disease - not the same as sickle cell trait. Sickle cell trait is not in itself harmful. People with sickle cell trait can lead perfectly healthy lives. In 1979, Baden ruled a 25-year-old amateur boxer collapsed and died in a New York ring as a result of an enlarged heart and sickle cell trait. Both were listed on the boxer's death certificate.

"In that case, he would have died from heart disease alone," Baden said Wednesday. Sickle trait was only listed on the death certificate, he said, because it is used for genetics research.

To compare Anderson's death with either of the two recorded cases is "mixing apples and pears."

"Here, the question is, "Was his life shortened by the actions of others?"' Baden said. "People who are healthy don't die of sickle trait. The other person was not healthy. This young man had no pre-existing illnesses. There's a difference."

Benjamin Crump, attorney for Martin Anderson's family, has said that though Baden represented the Anderson family during the second autopsy, he asked for no reimbursement other than his plane ticket down to Tampa this week to observe.

Despite Baden's opinion, Anderson's official cause of death is still undetermined. An official with Hillsborough State Attorney's office said Tuesday the process could take another two weeks.

Anderson's death has sparked a wave of outrage and numerous calls for an end to boot camps like the one the adolescent enrolled in a day before he died.

Anderson was sent to the boot camp after he violated probation for stealing his grandmother's car and taking it on a joy ride with friends. His violation, according to family: he missed a curfew and showed up at a school where he was not supposed to be.

Times researcher Cathy Wos and staff writer Kevin Graham contributed to this report.

[Last modified March 16, 2006, 14:24:42]