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Forensic Assessment of Illness Falsification, Munchausen by Proxy, and Factitious Disorder, NOS

StanfordUniversity Medical School

Brenda Bursch

UCLA School of Medicine

The purpose of this article is to propose guidelines for the evaluation of possible Munchausen by proxy child abuse for the court systems. These assessments require the evaluator to have an understanding of the complexity involved when this type of abuse is alleged. The evaluator should have an appreciation of how falsification of illness may or may not occur, recognize the need for careful analysis of medical records, and understand the problems associated with the use of a profile in determining the validity of an abuse allegation. This article presents guidelines for gathering pertinent data, analyzing records, and evaluating psychological testing for forensic evaluations when the questions for the evaluation are the following: (a) Is there evidence that child abuse did occur? (b) Does the alleged perpetrator meet criteria for factitious disorder, NOS (or factitious disorder by proxy)? and (c) What management and treatment recommendations should be made?

Child Maltreatment, Vol. 7, No. 2, 112-124 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/1077559502007002003


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