Thread: This one slipped through the net for ages!

Is this Munchausens or does it have another name?

And anyway, how did she manage to pull it off and fool so many doctors, hospital staff and welfare workers?

Von Muenchausens-syndrome-by-proxy.

Had a neighbour - a former paediatric nurse - who had a daughter 'too ill to eat properly, couldn't walk without the aid of crutches, couldn't manage school etc'. Parents managed to claim tonnes, mobility car, home assistance, respite care, holidays.

We offerred to take the girl out for a day-trip, whereupon crutches were lobbed into the boot, and she would have put many on here to shame when it came to shifting MaccyD's products.

Parents on the take can be quite Creative, and especially nasty to their chosen child.

The boy, who was convinced he really was seriously ill, was subjected to 325 medical encounters, including blood tests and intravenous treatments. He was fed through a tube and confined to a wheelchair. Macfarlane said the boy "never suffered from any of these disorders or handicaps and the symptoms reported by the defendant were fictitious."

It would be the very definition of irony if he were diagnosed with cancer now

No way DD. They would just pull the ol' " see I knew something wasn't right ALL ALONG....blahdeblahblah." shit. Poor little fucker.

It certainly sounds like a possible blend of Munchausens and benefit scrounging. It is cruel to the child and can be lethal. Several years ago there was a case in the city that I worked for (at that time as Asst City Solicitor). In that case both parents had Munchausens-by-roxy and someting called IIRC "Folie a deux". One child was missing and the police had to get a warrant to search the house they lived in and dig the garder up. No body was found but it was clear that they had once had three kids and noow had two. The parents had money and fled to Florence Italy and a police officer I know was ones sent out to extradite them. They did not go to jail but the courts took the surviving kids away permanently with an order for no parental contact, no being within 500 yards of their school or home.

Currently in my state (Massachusetts) there is a murder trial going on for parents who overdosed their child on drugs. Both parents are a couple of biscuits short of the dozen and getting social security and they were pleased to discover that if their kids had mental disorders they could get the SSI for the kids too. They began a long series of visits to doctors and clinics and got their kids classified as mentally disabled. Then they decided that if they could get SSI for two kids why not have another and the new baby was reported as a problem from day one. They finally overdosed the littlest one on anti-psycotic drugs. To put the icing on this case they then filed suit against the psychiatrist who prescribed the drugs. When the doctor moved from one side of Massachusetts to another the parents moved so they could keep going to the same doctor that they had duped. linky

It is clear to me in this case that it was a monetary scam plus a desire to keep her so drugged up she would not require much care. I hope they go to jail for a long feckin time.

Its pure unadulterated child abuse. I wouldn't call it munchausen by proxy as she appears to have deliberately set out to manipulate and decieve, and have done it for celebrity and financial gain. Plus I am uber over parents who try telling me they have every mental health issue in the book, and some that aren't!!

Its good to see they got her, and she is now where she needs to be for the forseeable future.

You may ask why it took so long to spot. These people are highly manipulative, they are exceptional liars and somehow manage to turn every situation to their own advantage. Point one, she had contitioned the child to believe he was at deaths door. Point two, she was an expert at pulling the wool. As for the system, come work with me :D . Job 1 on your list is to try and obtain a protection order for a child! I'll tell you one thing, it ain't easy, even with a fist load of evidence. Didn't you know parents rights are sacrosanct?

The mother should be given a hysterectomy and sectioned.

Social workers "probably" did try to intervene but not vigourous enough looks like a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Baby P, Victoria Clombie and Doncaster spring to mind.
Wouldn't do that job for all the tea in China.

Originally Posted by zazabell_012

You may ask why it took so long to spot. These people are highly manipulative, they are exceptional liars and somehow manage to turn every situation to their own advantage.

Besides which, how many people are going to question whether your wheelchair-bound child is *really* sick?

Sick child walt.