Texas mother had 4-year-old son hospitalized 200 times over fake ailments, forced doctor to put feeding tube in his stomach
A Texas mother reportedly brought her four-year-old son to the doctor's office or hospital more than 200 times in less than four years claiming he was suffering from a major ailment.
Megan Gee, of Wichita Falls, who is suspected of suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, was arrested Wednesday, September 25, on a charge of causing serious bodily harm to a child after she put her son on 77 different medicines, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
In just four years, the four-year-old was taken to a doctor at least 227 times—equivalent to one-third of his life, according to the document.
Despite several doctors telling Gee there was nothing wrong with her son and that he didn't show any signs of the illnesses she claimed he had, she made multiple visits to emergency rooms in Wichita Falls for vomiting and diarrhea starting January 2016.
Meanwhile, Gee was also visiting a hospital in Fort Worth, where she claimed her son was suffering from seizures, vomiting, and constipation. However, physicians conducted a litany of tests and found the boy had no major ailments.
Between October 2015 and March 2017, Gee called one doctor at the hospital 42 times saying her son wasn't eating. Following her desperate attempts, a doctor inserted a feeding tube into the boy in March 2016—two months after another physician filed a report with Texas Child Protective Services in connection with the boy.
“If a mother tells you, ‘My child is not eating, he does all these things,’ and you’ve exhausted all the other possibilities, then a feeding tube is a way to get nutrition to a child that refuses to eat or can’t eat or vomits everything they eat,” Dr. Lyn Hunt, who inserted the tube, told the outlet.
The doctor defended herself saying had she known child welfare authorities were looking into allegations that Gee had falsified the boy's medical records, she wouldn't have inserted the tube into the boy's stomach.
Hunt added that parents who lie about the medical history of their children often visit multiple hospitals or facilities in search of alternative treatment.
After the feeding tube was inserted, a doctor in Wichita Falls made another report to CPS. However, the allegation that she was fabricating her son's medical condition was closed without a "face-to-face interview" with any medical professional, per the affidavit.
The document also states that Texas CPS workers are not trained in how to spot suspected causes of Munchausen syndrome by proxy—a disorder characterized by a guardian fabricating or administering illnesses in another individual to gain personal attention.
That said, the cases are highly rare and employees at the state agency usually don't come across them, according to a Texas CPS spokeswoman.
“With a condition as rare as this, that can be difficult to detect, it makes sense to use agency-wide resources instead of trying to extensively train thousands of workers,” CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales told the Star-Telegram.
Gee was released from custody on Thursday after posting a $25,000 bail.