Rudolf Enrich Raspe's Book Baron Munchausen Syndrome

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The term "Munchausen syndrome by proxy" is acquired from Munchausen syndrome, a paradox among adults in which the person fabricates or creates their own medical symptoms, falsely assuming the role of a patient. Munchausen syndrome is named after Hieronymus Carl Friedrich von Munchausen a famous teller of wild war stories and many other tall tales. He lived during the 17th century. His tales were the inspiration for 17th century writer Rudolf Enrich Raspe’s book Baron Munchausen. The name of the syndrome basically derives from a famous liar. By proxy means one who is appointed or authorized to act for another. If an adult fabricates or induces symptoms in a child, putting the child in the medical patient or victim role, it is defined as Munchausen …show more content…

This term is used to describe a form of child abuse in which the victim receives unnecessary and harmful medical care at the instigation of the child’s parent or other caretaker. The perpetrator may exaggerate, fabricate, or directly cause symptoms of illness that can or will lead to unnecessary medical treatment for child. Parents may deceive medical professionals by presenting a convincing medical history that persuades the physician or other hospital/clinical staff to provide unnecessary and possibly harmful interventions. Thus, medical providers may unknowingly become instruments of the abuse by performing unnecessary surgeries, diagnostic procedures and other medical treatments based upon the parent’s false or exaggerated reports. Medical Child Abuse is a diagnosis recognized and supported by the American Board of Pediatrics. (Duquette Siegel, 2007, pg. 1) The impact of Medical Child Abuse on the victim may include both physical and psychological harm. Children who are victims could possibly experience the risk of deterioration of an existing medical condition due to deliberately neglecting treatment for a genuine illness. They may acquire medical problems after invasive diagnostic procedures and/or surgeries. All of these children suffer harm; some of these children may suffer from significant long-term harm or even permanent disability as a result of their maltreatment; some children …show more content…

Her five year old son Garnett-Paul Spears passed away on January 23, 2014. In the first year of his life, Lacey had written about 23 hospital stays on her blog. One stay was five weeks long. The stays were attributed to ear infections, fevers, and fluid leaking from the ears. Garnett was administered a feeding tube before the age of one. When asked, his mother said it was due to an illness called failure to thrive. Friends and acquaintances noted Garnett’s ability to ingest food orally without issues and amongst themselves questioned the need for the feeding tube. Throughout the next few years of Garnett’s life, he was moved from state to state, and had many inpatient stays at a number of children’s hospitals. The stays were due to numerous health problems including inability to gain weight, high fevers, spiked sodium levels, suddenly ceasing to breathe, staph infections, and blood leaking from ears and nose. His final stay at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, N.Y. was due to epileptic seizures possibly due to another spike in sodium levels. The doctors approached Lacey after her son’s death with many questions. It was metabolically impossible for her son’s body to create the sodium needed to measure at that extreme of a level. How then, had he ingested this much salt? Had Lacey given it to him? Doctors suspected she had. It was later found that the bags which had been used to

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