Due to the nature of this case, listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes discussions of murder, harm against minors, suicidal ideation and

medical cruelty.

Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen.

To get help on mental health and suicidal ideation, visit spotify.com slash resources.

A few days after Christmas, 1981, in a hospital ward still decked out with lights and tinsel,

a one-month old baby fought for his life.

And the worst part was, Dr. Kenneth Copland had no idea why.

At 33, Kenneth had worked in pediatrics for several years, he'd seen a lot.

The ICU where he worked in San Antonio was always busy with critically sick children who

needed to be triaged and treated.

He wasn't easily phased and didn't often freeze at work.

And as a pediatric epidemiologist, it was his job to understand how diseases develop

in children.

But with Rolando Santos, Kenneth was at a loss.

Nothing about this little boy's symptoms made sense.

He'd been admitted with a straightforward pneumonia case and started improving.

And then...

Rolando took a sudden and drastic turn for the worse.

Kenneth had been at the boy's bedside for nearly an hour, turning over scenarios in his

head, trying to come up with a diagnosis that would explain everything.

Deep down though, he knew it didn't exist.

...