Hello all. I was wanting to know what you all thought about Munchausen by Proxy (MBP)?
Have any of you ever came across a case of it and if so how did you proceed?
And how can one really tell if it is MBP?
There was a case in Missouri where a mother was accused of MBP. Her child had died of ethylene glycol poisioning.The mother was charged with the child's death. This mother had another child and the doctor's found that the infant had a rare disease, methylmalonic acidemia, which had caused the death of her first child. Needless to say she initiated legal action against the hospital and the State.
I would just like to know your views on this. Belle
Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.
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Were these women in prison in the FIRST place for being MBPers (that is, those who harm others, like their own children, for self-attention, and were finally caught and convicted?)
Or were they imprisoned for other crimes, and started harming THEMSELVES for attention (Munchausen's syndrome?) Curious to know if those with Munchausens' by proxy develop Munchausens syndrome when they no longer have an innocent victim, and must inflict damage on themselves. [/b] Yes, they were in prison for killing their children and later Dx'd as MBP. They only started to harm themselves for attention when they were in isolation, and had no one dependent on them around to do it to, thereby turning over into Munchausen's. One of them was a Pediatric nurse, so who knows what she was doing while at work! She was in for harming her own children- ( caught in the act with one) none of them died, though. SHe didn't harm herself as far as I could tell, but had a different medical complaint every day, and swore that she wasn't getting the medical attn she needed. But she had also been there for a long time, and wasn't segregated like the others. All of the others had killed their children, and were threatened by the other inmates, even while being in "protective segregation." It's weird that they were afraid of being harmed by the other inmates, but would do horrendous things to themselves.
They end up on a neuro floor quite often because of what they do to the kids causes all sorts of developmental delays and seziures. Many of these kids are neurologically damaged for life even if the mothers are found out. Also the unit I am on is one of the smaller units in the hospital so we usually have real good staffing for closer watching. In Texas the courts take a dim view of secret monitering by video camera so it is hard to do.
Dave
Oh, gosh, Dave, that is sooooo horrible!!! So, how do you handle it? Are the parents in most of those cases custodial, or have their rights been taken away? How are you able to interact with these monsters without losing it? I sure don't envy you your job; I sure couldn't do it.
What surprises me is how long this goes on in some cases without anyone catching on. I guess we're conditioned to give parents the benefit of the doubt...
In our case the mother had gone far enough to create false records so it was no surprise she was believed for so long. Sad that practitioners have to worry about something like this!
Belle
BBFRN, BSN, PhD
3,779 Posts
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Were these women in prison in the FIRST place for being MBPers (that is, those who harm others, like their own children, for self-attention, and were finally caught and convicted?)
Or were they imprisoned for other crimes, and started harming THEMSELVES for attention (Munchausen's syndrome?) Curious to know if those with Munchausens' by proxy develop Munchausens syndrome when they no longer have an innocent victim, and must inflict damage on themselves. [/b] Yes, they were in prison for killing their children and later Dx'd as MBP. They only started to harm themselves for attention when they were in isolation, and had no one dependent on them around to do it to, thereby turning over into Munchausen's. One of them was a Pediatric nurse, so who knows what she was doing while at work! She was in for harming her own children- ( caught in the act with one) none of them died, though. SHe didn't harm herself as far as I could tell, but had a different medical complaint every day, and swore that she wasn't getting the medical attn she needed. But she had also been there for a long time, and wasn't segregated like the others. All of the others had killed their children, and were threatened by the other inmates, even while being in "protective segregation." It's weird that they were afraid of being harmed by the other inmates, but would do horrendous things to themselves.