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Parents Accused of Exaggerating Illness in Children

A growing number of families are being accused of inventing or causing their children鈥檚 illness.

Calls for a cross party inquiry into claims that a growing number of families are being accused of inventing or causing their children鈥檚 illness. It鈥檚 called Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) and used to be known as Munchausen鈥檚 Syndrome By Proxy. It鈥檚 a rare form of abuse where parents exaggerate their child鈥檚 medical condition 鈥 or even cause it. Campaigners and charities say many families have been wrongly accused and want the inquiry to look at what they describe as a 鈥渨ave of false allegations鈥 and the current guidelines around FII. 5 Live Investigates first looked at this in March when we spoke to mums and dads threatened with having their children taken off them after being accused of FII. Following the programme, we have been contacted by other families who say this has happened to them. We鈥檝e also been told about many other cases. One involves a mother accused of poisoning her two year old daughter and ordered to live apart from her for almost a year until the case was dismissed.

Photo credit; Getty/Katarzyna Bialasiewicz

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48 minutes

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  • Sun 5 May 2019 11:00

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