A Pennsylvania woman has been charged for forcing her then-8-year-old son to undergo a series of medical procedures, even after physicians repeatedly told her that he was developing normally, PennLive.com reports.
Christine Marie Maxwell, 48, was reported in 2019 as a suspected case of Caregiver Fabricated Illness, also known as Munchausen’s by Proxy. Maxwell would allegedly lie to doctors about her son’s health in order for him to undergo these unnecessary examinations. She claimed he developed bug bites, which warranted a skin biopsy, and needed a bronchoscopy for his “barky coughs and fevers.”
Both tests revealed nothing was wrong with her child, who has also unnecessarily undergone an MRI, X-rays, ultrasounds, EKGs, ECHOs, adenoidectomy, colonoscopy, and more. “My mom tells me when I’m sick,” the child told investigators, according to an affidavit.
The boy was removed from Maxwell’s custody two years ago, and his father was placed in charge of making his medical decisions. The child has been healthy with no reports of pain, illness or injury since then.
“This abusive behavior has impacted [the child’s] development by limiting his activity, leading him to believe that he is ill when he is not, and causing him to miss school days unnecessarily,” police said in the affidavit. “[He] suffered from some underlying issues but none of the diagnoses should have required such an extensive amount of consultation from so many different specialists.”
A summons for Maxwell was issued in Nov. 2021 on a slew of charges, including aggravated assault of a victim under 13 years old, simple assault, endangering the welfare of children and theft by deception. Her bail has been set at $20,000.
