Factitious disorder imposed on another (Munchausen syndrome by proxy)
Trastorno facticio impuesto a otro (síndrome de Munchausen por poderes)
- Date
- 1977 · confidence high
- Place
- Leeds, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Roy Meadow
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Pediatrician Roy Meadow, of the University of Leeds, described and named the disorder in which a caregiver induces or fabricates health problems in another person, based on clinical cases such as a mother poisoning her toddler with salt.
The diagnosis became controversial after Meadow's role as an expert witness in court cases (e.g. Sally Clark) that were later overturned.
What it led to
- Recognition of a previously undescribed form of child abuse
- Pediatric protocols to detect covert abuse
- Later controversy over its use as expert testimony