Film
explores Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
By Paul de la Peña-Franceschi
Among the most compelling
documentaries featured at the South by Southwest Film
Festival in Austin and the Florida Film Festival in
Orlando was Mama/M.A.M.A.: Munchausen Syndrome by
Proxy (Msbp), which profiles the lives of three families
who have struggled through allegations of the perplexing
psycyhological disorder (Munchausen) and the consequences
of their actions.
De La Peña, the writer of Death on the Job,
teamed with Oscar nominated, Emmy winner producer
Amy Sommer (Waco: The Rules of Engagement) to bring
MSBP to the screen.
Persons afflicted with Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
secretly but deliberately harms his or her child in
order to get the sympathy and praise of others and
the attention of the medical community. As the documentary
points out, this is not always the case, and in fact
raises an awareness that is controversial yet inspiring.
What emerges in the film, which was written over three
years of dogged scrutiny, are disturbing questions
related to the medical profession's arrogant and presumptuous
use of the Msbp diagnosis, the exacerbating contributions
from the pharmaceutical industry, and its grievous
impact on families.
Some may recall the name Munchausen from the movie
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, who was an 18th
century cavalry officer well known for elaborate story
telling. He would often tell stories using mythological
characters and tales of men sailing to the moon. His
name was given to the serious psychological disorder
in which the patient is accused of fabricating an
illness.
After the new diagnosis made its way into prestigious
reference books and medical journals such as the Rudolph
on Pediatrics and the Royal British Medical Journal,
doctors and medical students began to look at this
as a possible diagnosis for some their patients. Munchausen
syndrome by proxy is considered a form of child abuse
that has allowed nurses, doctors, interns, and social
service personnel to take newborn infants from their
parents at birth, or even before birth, claiming abuse
or the possibility that abuse might occur.
De la Peña came across this syndrome while
researching child abuse cases for The Jaundiced Eye
-- the story of gay father Stephen Matthews who was
accused of sexually abusing his son, prejudices that
rose from small town prejudices. "I stumbled
on a story of a woman whose baby was stripped from
her at birth by social services," de la Peña
said. "She had been accused of harming her older
son and diagnosed with this very strange-sounding
disorder, Munchausen Syndrome. Though the accused
hadn't had the opportunity to actually harm the new
baby, she was now considered too dangerous to be given
any opportunity to be with her child," she continued.
The documentary presents a broad focus that allows
the viewer to recognize the diversity of issues involving
Msbp. The first family, the Jones, baffle doctors
at the Birmingham Alabama Children's hospital when
they realize that their three-week-old daughter Brittany
is having fluctuating blood sugar problems. The mother
was accused of giving her daughter her husband's insulin,
and battle ensues over the custody of the child. When
her second child was to be born, she was taken in
handcuffs, four and a half-weeks before her due date
by the Department of Social Services and forced into
premature labor. She was never able to hold the child
who became a ward of the state.
The film also presents the case of the Alexander family's
seven-year-old son Christopher, who had autism and
gastrointestinal problems. In his case, he was given
an overdose of Pethidine (Demerol) during a stomach
operation. Once a lawsuit was initiated, the hospital's
position changed to one of finding charges against
the mother. Jane Alexander was charged with Msbp and
consequently her son was taken into protective custody.
Fearing that the younger sibling Ellen would also
be taken, her grandmother took Ellen into hiding and
was later convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy to
abduct a child.
The last case presented in De La Peña's research,
and the most disturbing, is that of Philip Patrick
who was born with multiple birth defects, the most
severe of which Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).
Undernourished and constantly spitting-up Patrick
was treated by doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
who gave the newborn both cisapride and metoclopramide
in an attempt to control the GERD. He was then transferred
to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville were
doctors also could not diagnose his symptoms. In total,
the medical profession gave him over 40 different
kinds of drugs. After a plea by the parents to over
500 pediatric surgeons via fax, it was determined
that the Alexanders would also be accused of Msbp.
They were ordered to be separated from their child
and in the ensuing six weeks the baby's health declined.
The next time they were allowed to see their son,
he was dead. The autopsy showed that he had several
sores on his back and forehead indicating that the
child had not been turned in his crib or picked up
for some time. Although the Alexanders were cleared
of all charges, they are still torn by the manner
in which their son died.
The film points out that in over one hundred documented
cases of suspected Munchausen mothers, children were
in fact suffering from the side effects of potentially
toxic drugs such as cisapride and metoclopramide -
which were never approved for pediatric use. The filmmakers
conclude that medical records should not be used as
sole evidence of guilt in cases such as these. The
film also concludes that over 25 years the questionable
scientific and medical practices relative to diagosing
Munchausen leave much in question and much in the
balance of the lives of mothers and children.
For more information go to www.munchausenmovie.com.
