A Kansas City area mother and a Chicago hospital are in a legal fight over her 16-year-old son's medical treatments.A custody hearing scheduled for Wednesday was postponed.
Michelle Rider says she is just a worried mother trying to do the best for her son but the Lurie Children's Hospital has accused her of purposefully sickening her son. As a result, the two sides are embroiled in the custody dispute.
Isaiah Rider, turns 17 in August. His grandmother, Judy Rider, calls the last two months "a nightmare" with her grandson in a foster home.
"They accused her of medical abuse and a disease called Munchausen," said Judy Rider about the allegations that the hospital has made against Isaiah's mother.
Munchausen is Munchausen by proxy syndrome, a rare form of child abuse in which a caregiver exaggerates or fabricates a child's symptoms in order to get attention and sympathy. In some cases, the loved one may purposefully sicken or injure a child so that they get treatment or be hospitalized.
Lurie Hospital said confidentiality rules prevented them from commenting.
Michelle Rider says Isaiah has multiple diagnoses which are undisputed, including something called neurofibromatosis, which he was diagnosed with at the age of 5.
"It's a genetic condition and it causes tumors on the nerves," explained Michelle Rider.
She suspects that is what created difficulties after he broke his leg a year later. He slipped on a gym floor. His grandmother says the break never healed. The bones wouldn't grow. His right leg far outpaced the growth in his left. Between 2003 and 2012, Michelle Rider says, Isaiah had a total of seven surgeries on his leg. The final one was an amputation, and soon after he started getting painful leg convulsions.
"It's like a seizure of the limb lasting two hours, causing him severe pain," said Michelle Rider.
Source:
Mother, Hospital in Fight for Control of Teen's Treatments