Your viewing articles about; cerebral palsy

Mother claimed £130,000 in benefits faked son’s illness

A 35-year-old British mother claimed £130,000 in benefits by faking her son’s illness, making him appear to be, “one of the sickest children in Britain”, even more disturbing was that she was giving him false medication and forcing him to have surgery.

Police said his bedroom was like ‘a scene out of the TV show Casualty’ with a specialist bed, medical equipment and boxes of liquid food.

The woman had “manipulated highly regarded medical professionals” to con the public, government agencies and children’s charity purses said Detective Constable Mark Uren said, who led the investigation.

He said the mother claimed £20,000 a year in disability living allowance for over half a decade by forcing her young son to be fed through a tube.

Detective Constable Mark Uren continued revealing the motives of the con by saying: “His mother used the fabricated illnesses to take free holidays paid for by charities and was introduced to celebrities. She claimed the highest rate of disability living allowance.

“We discovered that he was, in fact, suffering from none of the symptoms of illnesses that she claimed. She was very cunning and aggressive with medical professionals.”

She told doctors the boy had diabetes and spiked his urine samples with glucose to fool tests. And she conned paediatricians into believing he needed a wheelchair, claiming he had cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, a throat disorder called dysphagia and countless food allergies. She even faked blood samples.

Since the boy was an infant she maintained to doctors, friends and family, even his father, that he was unable to eat or swallow food. She took her son to school in a wheelchair fitted with oxygen bottles and maintained that he had to be fed through a tube into his stomach. Doctors, who were never able to identify the mystery illness, eventually operated and fitted him with a permanent feeding tube.

Dozens of children’s charities also gave her freebies including a new car, tickets to see the X Factor and a cruise in Tenerife. The boy, who was also convinced he was ill, was also introduced to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, avoided detection by missing key hospital appointments, on one occasion claiming she couldn’t attend a diabetic appointment because she had been raped. The false rape claim was reported to police, who were on the verge of making an arrest, after the woman caused injuries to herself to substantiate her claims of a violent attack.

She was eventually found out when a paediatrician raised the alarm after reviewing her son’s medical files and became suspicious that his health problems had gone on for so long without a clear diagnosis.

Yesterday at Exeter Crown Court she admitted perverting the course of justice and child cruelty. She will be sentenced in the New Year.

The court heard she has controlled access to her son, who did not suffer life-threatening abuse but had been ‘mentally traumatised’ by his ordeal.

Judge Stephen Wildblood QC indicated the mother will face a jail term of no more than three years and three months.

         

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IVF Twins Have Greater Risk Of Serious Illness Or Early Death

Twins conceived from IVF have been found in a study to be at greater risk of serious illness or dying within their first three years of live than twins which have been conceived naturally.

The study also found that twins born as a result of fertility treatment stay in hospital on average four days longer after the birth. They also have a two-thirds higher chance that they will be admitted to a neo-natal intensive care unit, and of returning to hospital in their first three years.

Researchers at the universities of Western Australia and Oxford also found that IVF twins were more than twice as likely to die either before or just after they were born. They were unable to provide any explanation for their findings.

The findings which were published in the journal Human Reproduction, recommended that couples are made aware of the risks involved with multiple births, and that they should be advised to consider implanting one embryo at a time into the womb.

Presently, between 20 and 30 percent of couples undergoing fertility treatment conceive twins. This compares to just 1 percent of natural conceptions resulting in twins.

IVF Twins are more likely to be non-identical as more than one embryo has been implanted into the mother.

Clinics are now being advised by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to transfer one embryo per treatment session.

Births of two or more babies have more risks involved as there is a higher chance that the infants will be born premature or underweight. There is also a higher risk of cerebral palsy, congenital heart disease or vision problems.

Mothers face more health complications as a result of multiple-births, and have a higher chance of heavy bleeding, miscarriage, diabetes or pre-eclampsia.

Researcher Michèle Hansen, from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, commented: “Couples undergoing fertility treatment should be aware that, in addition to the known increased . . . risks associated with a twin birth, ART [assisted reproductive technology] twins are more likely than spontaneously conceived twins to be admitted to . . . intensive care and to be hospitalised in their first three years of life.”

The study investigated hospital records of twins born both naturally and from fertility treatment, both of identical and non-identical twins. They also considered factors such as the mothers age, year of birth and number of time the woman had given birth in the past.

         

Help Support The Plight Of Premature Babies

The number of premature births since the early 1980s have increased 27 percent.

Currently, one in eight babies is born premature, making it as common as polio was in the 1940s.

It is unclear why there has been an increase in premature birth rates. Some of the babies survive thanks to the advances in technology and treatments. Others are not so lucky and may be left blind or suffering from cerebral palsy.

The March of Dimes was established in 1938 to fight polio by finding a cure. They asked supporters to give a dime, and the proceeds were used for polio research.

Since 1955, polio has become rare, with few people knowing anyone who has suffered from the disease.

The charity has now made a decision to help support research for premature births. By asking the public for donations, they hope to learn more about what can trigger early deliveries.

So far, it is thought that genetic and environmental factors may be significant in low birth rate babies.

If you would like to support the March of Dimes, you can contact them at (806) 797-6771 or visit http://www.marchforbabies.org

         

Brain Injury Baby Awarded $4.4 Million

Parents of a baby who died 5 years after suffering from a brain injury during her birth in 2003 have been awarded $4.4 million.

Baby Sierra Wilson was born on November 18, 2003 in Piedmont Medical Center, South Carolina. The parents claimed that their daughter was born with brain damage and had later developed cerebral palsy due to a lack of oxygen.

Court documents revealed that a nurse at the birth had not recognised the signs of fetal distress which had required emergency intervention.

Both the hospital and staff were named as being responsible for the childs injuries in the medical malpractice lawsuit.