![]() In Devil's Waltz, Jonathan Kellerman's seventh novel featuring forensic psychologist Alex Delaware, the protagonist faces a medical mystery. Six more fictional thrillers trace the portrayals of medical child abuse in crime fiction, helping to open our collective eyes about this crime. Over the years, the preferred terms have changed from "factitious disorder by proxy (or imposed on another)" to "fabricated or induced illness by carers" to " medical child abuse." ![]() And she's often involved in the healthcare profession. In a whopping 95% of cases, that parent is a mother. In 1977, the term Munchausen syndrome by proxy was first described: a parent purposefully feigning medical symptoms in their child, harming their child, in order for that parent to get the desired attention. ![]() After all, what could lead mothers to abuse children they were meant to nurture and love? Doctors must be willing to consider child abuse in their differential diagnostic thinking - which goes against how doctors want to think about the parents of patients. When studies ask adults about abuse histories, they find that only one-tenth of abuse cases were captured in official rates. Yet, even in the present day, many cases of child abuse are still missed. In 1962, the term "battered child syndrome" was coined. In 1951, the term Munchausen syndrome was used to describe the fabrication of medical symptoms, which could lead to hospitalization and unnecessary surgery. Baron von Munchausen was said to be a German cavalry officer in the 18th century, widely known for his untruthful but dramatic tales of his mythical travels. Munchausen by proxy is a term derived from Munchausen syndrome.
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