Monday, February 27, 200616
Frivolous? An interesting case where parents are suing a doctor for a Munchausen syndrome by proxy diagnosis:
The parents of 3-year-old boy have sued a prominent pediatrician at the Cleveland Clinic who accused the couple of faking their son's illnesses.
Scott and Tricia Beam of suburban Chippewa Lake were outraged when their son, Tyler, was placed with a foster family while the couple was under investigation by the Medina County Department of Job and Family Services.
The agency based its investigation on a 19-page letter from Dr. Johanna Goldfarb, who had never examined Tyler or met his parents but diagnosed the toddler as a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents fake a child's illness or deliberately harm the child to draw attention to themselves.
A juvenile court eventually ruled in favor of the Beams, returning Tyler to their care.
But the couple filed a lawsuit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court seeking damages. They say Goldfarb and the Cleveland Clinic should pay for the parents' mental anguish, embarrassment and damage to their reputations. Both are teachers in the Cleveland school system.
Defense lawyers labeled the lawsuit frivolous. But last month a judge denied their request to dismiss the case.
Comments
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Anonymous
I thought you're protected by law in all states when you file a child endangerment charge. Oh well, from now on guess I'llkeep my mouth shut when I suspect abuse and return the child to their abuser.
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Anonymous
I have to wonder about that 19-page part.
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Anonymous
I would like to know more, hopefully from an objecttive 3rd party. On the one hand, a doctor should be able to report the suspected abuse when there is evidence. On the other hand, there have been a number of cases in the past when people were accused unjustly. Probably more of these cases than those of real abuse. In some cases it was an honest mistake on the accuser's part, but in others it wasn't. One problem is that once parents are accused, they are guilty until proven innocent. It is devastating for the family.
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Anonymous
I wonder about the fact that this doctor has never examined the patient or met with his parents. I'd like more details about the evidence including if the child was always better in the hospital than at home, etc.
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Anonymous
The laws were created because the vast majority of time, presentations of abuse are unclear and vague, and the law has to insure that reporters are not at risk of lawsuits so they feel free to report any time there is a possibility of abuse. If I have to start to pander to the abusers because I'm worried that they may sue me, you can throw the entire system of reporting out the window. The other thing that would happen is mandated reporters (police officers, nurses, teachers) would stop reporting, and send every child with suspicion of abuse to the emergency room for "r/o abuse" because they would want to transfer the liability to the ER doc, like they do with so many other issues today.
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Anonymous
This is all well and good, but there have been a number of false accusations. Read this - from a doctor:
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Anonymous
I question the accuracy of this newspaper report.
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Anonymous
I think you should give the parents 500 million dollars and a yacht. Then they can take their child out to the ocean and abuse the crap out of him, out of sight of any of these dangerous docs that are only in it for themselves. If I see a child who I have even a 1% suspicion is being abused, I report it.
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Anonymous
Exactly, what is a 1% suspicion?
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Anonymous
So for you it's acceptable for me to miss one out of every 100 abused children? What if that one child is your child? Haven't you been reading this blog? I have to be 100% right 100% of the time. Get it?
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Anonymous
You seem all messed up...First you say you report parents if you have even a 1% suspicion of abuse then you say you have to be 100% right...I think you should report ALL cases of child abuse if you "honestly" suspect it is happening.
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Anonymous
"someone who you have a 1% suspicion about.."
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Anonymous
Anon at 9:50. I do understand the dilemma the physicians are in. But are you a parent? Would you be just as understanding if some doctor reports you because he is 1% suspicious, you'll have your kids taken away and your reputation ruined - just because somebody had some suspicion? Or would you be angry as hell? If anything a lawsuit against your accuser would be a way to prove to the world your innocence. Because even if the charges are dismissed it doesn't restore your reputation.
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Anonymous
I have to be 100% right 100% of the time. Get it?
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Anonymous
The doctor in this case likes to publish a lot. (Try a Google Search) Interestingly, her field is in in Ped. Infectious Diseases, though she evidently now considers herself an expert on Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. This is not the first case in which this doctor and her team has misdiagnosed Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy and caused sick children to be removed.
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Anonymous
If you read th symptoms the Cleveland Clinic uses to determine if a mother has this condition it is disturbing. A concerned mother, a friendly mother. a cooperative mother, God forbid the mother work in the health care field, symptoms the hospital can't explain (maybe the physicians just simply don't have the answer), worsening symptoms (if the doctors don't know the answer yet how do you expect the child is not going to get worse?), death of another child ( if the Doctor's haven't figured it out maybe it is genetic and that is why 2 children have died).
Post a Comment »4:59 PM
6:23 PM
Mind you, this is all purely academic interest on my part as I have no children. But sometimes when I read about such cases I am kind of glad that I don't.
7:39 PM
I also don't feel like I have enough information to form an opinion here. On the one hand, doctors must and shall report suspected abuse. On the other hand, in the recent years there has been a number of unjust accusations. In the current system, the accused in such cases are guilty until found innocent. It is devastating for the family to be accused unjustly. Certainly not nearly as devastating as to miss a case of abuse, but I bet the former happens much more often. A doctor has to err on the side of a child; but there have been alleged child abuse cases in which the accusations were not warranted.
The amount of information in the article is not sufficient to decide either way.
8:05 PM
8:41 PM
http://www.pathguy.com/abuse.htm
It mentions cases of clearly false evidence provided by doctors as well. Do you think if the evidence is clearly falsified (as opposed to an honest mistakes), there should be no culpability? If so, what is there to protect you or anybody else from being accused?
Nobody argues that a doctor should have a right to report abuse without fear of law suits when the doctor honestly believes there is one. Certainly there could be honest mistakes. But what if the doctor lies for some reasons? Doctors are humans with all human fallibilities. They are not perfect. Some are honest, some are not. Some have mental problems. Some were abused as children and tend to see abuse everywhere. Some are incompetent. What if the doctor - because of past history or personal problems - reports stuff that doesn't exist? You all read about doctors who appear as "expert witnesses" and provide questionable testimony. What if somebody with the same level of morality as these experts accuses somebody of abuse?
I don't believe there is enough information in the article to decide either way.
9:59 AM
A physician takes the time to formulate a 19 page evaluation but doesn't personally examine the patient!
Either these parents deserve a handsome compensation or this reporter needs to perform due diligence.
1:58 PM
In pediatrics, our job is to be advocates for the CHILDREN. Not for the parents.
7:28 PM
Does that mean if you are 99% certain there is no abuse you report all these parents?
NOONE can be 100% sure that any child is not being abused, but you better have more than a 1% suspicion before reporting it...If a child has obvious evidence then certainly your suspicion raises to above 1%.
Your 1% remark was hideous!!
8:19 PM
8:25 PM
But, just because a Physician files a report doesn't mean we should be convicting anyone, on a web site,when we don't have all the facts...
My God, you don't want any lawsuits against physicians, they are ALL frivolous, on the other hand you want to report someone who you have a 1% suspicion about..I'm just saying that before you go ruining people's professions, homelife and social standing you need to atleast have some honest belief that it is actually happening...
BTW, do you often report parents of children that you have never treated?
8:38 PM
You misunderstand. I don't have to be "100% right". I just can NEVER miss a case of abuse. If I EVER see a child, and send him home, and his abuser kills him, I will be vilified. (Plus who can live with himself?)But If you don't like the laws, get them changed. Then we can see how many more abused children die when we get sued for reporting.
9:50 PM
And don't tell me it can never happen to you. If you yourself say that 1% suspicion is enough, then 99% of people you report are innocent. You can just as easily be one of the unjustly accused as any parent.
I believe that the doctor should report suspected abuse if he honestly believes that there is abuse based on his own examination of the patient and conversation with the parents. In this case, this doctor wrote a long report without ever seeing a patient. Sounds fishy to me.
1:38 PM
Yes, we do get it. But in another post you say:
If I see a child who I have even a 1% suspicion is being abused, I report it.
There is a huge diffence between not being a 100% right and being 1% right. Nobody expects you to be 100% right. Nobody argues that you have a reasonable suspicion you should report it. But wouldn't you agree that the doctors shouldn't report the parents simply because they don't like them? Do you believe that before you report someone you should at least examine the patient?
According to the article the doctor wrote a long report without ever seeing the child?!
I found it interesting how some doctors here are absolutely sure the particular parents (in the article) are guilty. Without knowing any of the facts. Note that most of the rest of us are not saying anybody is guilty, just that we don't know.
1:58 PM
2:25 PM
I have very strong concerns about how the Cleveland Clinic goes about these cases. For you see when they were wrong about me....my son died 9 weeks after they recommended he be taken from my home.
Too quick to judge...Too slow to save.
10:54 PM