Is the Justina Pelletier Case Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy?

Over the last year and half, a case has been running through the courts and the media about teenage patient Justina Pelletier, who was inpatient at Tufts University Hospital in Boston for mitochondrial disease (rare and severe), then was transferred to Boston Children’s because her GI doc had transferred there and she needed to see him. Tufts and Boston Children’s are just a few miles from each other, so this makes sense.

But something weird happened in the transfer. When Justina got to Children’s, they kidnapped her and locked her in the psych unit! They stopped her treatment for mitochondrial disease, and though they didn’t use the actual term Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP), they accused the parents of medical abuse! Child Protective Services got involved, and completely blocked the family from Justina. They went on the news pleading tearfully. It was all the family could do to get Justina back from the medical system. She didn’t even live in Boston – they live in Connecticut!

In this blog post, I will argue that Justina Pelletier’s case looks like a classic MSbP case – but not in the way you would think.

Justina’s Family is Probably Not an MSbP Family

I can’t be 100% certain, because I just have the news to rely on, but basically, I’m 99% certain. They are a normal family, as much as I can tell.

To make this judgment, I first watched her dad being interviewed on the news. He seemed just like a normal dad with a sick – and now kidnapped – kid. Also, it was interesting that the dad was being interviewed. In a typical MSbP family, the mom would be interviewed (as what happened in the Kathy Bush case, who was the main person interviewed on the news).

Compare Justina’s Dad…

5:33 – mention of MSbP

With Kathy Bush…

There are other pieces of evidence that suggest Justina is sick and her family is normal. Justina was doing rather well at Tufts, and was going to Children’s to get access to a GI specialist who had treated her before – who she didn’t even get to see because she was put inpatient in the psych ward. There, her health deteriorated as they would not medicate her for her disease. This is part of why the family is suing them now for malpractice – they destroyed Justina’s health through this horrible event where they locked her in the psych ward, would not medicate her thus making her sick, and kidnapped her from her family.

Eventually, they gave her back to her family and got her back on meds and didn’t charge anyone. Yeah, I know, WTF?

Where does the MSbP Come In?

Glad you asked! Here is my diagnosis after reading the news:

At least one clinician at Boston Children’s who is in charge of the psych ward is an MSbP Perpetrator – Provider Type.

These are the providers like Mariel’s mom, who was a psychiatrist engaging in MSbP behavior with her family and patients. There are also psychologists and social workers who are MSbP Perpetrators – Provider Type. There were the ones who cooperated with my mother. Most clinicians would avoid her, but these Provider Type MSbP Perpetrators would throw themselves into it. These providers engage in psychiatric MSbP behavior, and want to accuse everyone of having a psychological problem and lock them up. These are the type of providers who run Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) torture organizations.

During the time Justina was court-ordered in this psych ward, almost no information was available to the media and the family. No one in the family was charged, so they could not even defend themselves. It was bizarre and disturbing.

MSbP Perpetrators – Provider Type are the Medical Abuse Version of Child Molesters

They try to get hired at pediatric outpatient clinics or children’s hospitals (or TTI torture organizations, as teens are there). These child-focused healthcare locations are full of these people because there are no specific screenings to keep these people from practicing in the medical system.

We have screening to prevent child molesters in schools, but no filters in the medical system, so these MSbP Perpetrators – Provide Type literally congregate in those settings.

And also, Mariel’s mother practiced for a long time before her license was taken away, and she had to behave egregiously. Had she had the emotional regulation my mother did, she would not have been identified. Heck, “The Good Nurse” killed an estimated 400 people before he was identified! That is evidence enough for what I am contending.

Will the MSbP Perpetrator – Provider Type be Identified?

The Pelletier’s are suing Boston Children’s. Will the Pelletier’s legal representation look for this angle? I hope they do. If they can find the MSbP Perpetrator – Provider Type providers at Children’s and actually charge that person or those people with child abuse, maybe those responsible will then be barred from having contact with children.

I admit that have heard rumors of MSbP Perpetrator – Provider Types at Children’s. Inevitably, I know there must be many, given this lack of occupational screening. Who were these people who orchestrated Justina Pelletier’s kidnapping? I hope media reveal who at Children’s is responsible.

Sorry, Joe Fitzgerald – I love the Boston Herald, but I think you missed the boat with “good intentions”. When it comes to MSbP Perpetrators, Provider Type or not, we are talking about serial killers, not good intentions.

Update: March 7, 2016: More info on Accused Perpetrators

Thank you for your helpful comments, and for those who have referred me to your blogs with more information about this news issue.

Also, I was able to find the accused MSbP Provider Type perpetrators discussed in the media as a result of a press release from the Pelletier family! I made a few more blog posts that will lay out my hypothesis better. Please read these if you are interested in the MSbP Provider Type hypothesis I have about Children’s clinicians who perpetrated on Justina:

Part 2: Dr. Alice Newton of Children’s was named as an accused perpetrator in the press release. She has a reputation! Read my review of her reputation here.

Part 3: In the 1970s, Dr. Roy Meadow of England actually identified and named MSbP. In the 2000s, he falsely accused parents of MSbP and had them wrongly imprisoned. One even ended up committing suicide. I describe Dr. Meadows’ descent from apparent MSbP champion to apparent MSbP Perpetrator – Provider Type in this post.

Part 4: In this post, I draw the eerie parallels between Dr. Meadow and Dr. Newton.

Part 5: This one is a must-read for anyone who uses Children’s Hospital in Boston for care for their children. I review public information on the other two accused perpetrators, Jurriaan Peters and I. Simona Bujoreanu. I’m not so afraid of Dr. Peters, but Dr. Bujuorneau looks pretty scary – see for yourself.

Part 6: October 2016 update! The Anonymous “hactivist” group launched an attack on Boston Children’s in 2014 because of Justina Pelletier’s case. One of the hackers who was caught, Martin Gottesfeld, is sitting in a Rhode Island jail on a hunger strike with demands that the presidential candidates pledge to “protect children who’ve been sent to residential treatment centers, psychiatric hospitals and other institutions”. Check it out!

Did you know that manipulating Child Protective Services is another symptom of being an MSbP Perpetrator?

Dierdre Conway Rand points this out in her research she describes here.

Photograph by Joseph Barillari.