Given that CPS, like the police, have no obligation to help, it makes sense to error on the cautionary side of Do no harm.
Sacrificing the lives of some children and families for the greater good is not the type of utilitarian calculus the government should be engaging in.
Basically, hospital employees have reasonable access to patients/records as part of their care but CPS needs to go through a process for the same access. This particular employee wore both hats to obtain alleged illegal access to the children/records.
Unfortunately many hospitals have mandated reporter policies, which in some states makes them effectively extensions of law enforcement bodies (including CPS).
My personal opinion is that this is in direct conflict with the need for privacy between patients and their providers, who are no longer able to exercise judgement about what is best for the people they are treating.
The linked article makes it sound as if the accusation was entirely due to a bad diagnosis of a medical condition, which was easily contradicted by standard medical tests/imaging that was available to the hospital staff.
But make no mistake, a $250mil judgement has nothing to do with the significance of judgement, and everything to do with juries that make up ridiculous amounts which are later reduced on appeal.
Bad initial diagnoses that are also criminal accusations have your kids sent to the rape orphanages for 5 months until a judge gets it settled.
> Im more concerned that there was insufficient review to catch a bad diagnosis before the state took action,
Well, same here. A few hostile glares from hospital staff are something I could weather, if 30 minutes later a second set of eyes tells the first that they're stupid and this is just an accident from whatever, and not shaken baby syndrome. Arguably, some minimally competent review would have caught not only this case, but many others.