Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) is a form of child abuse which happens, when a parent, or carer falsifies, exaggerates or deliberately causes illness in someone under their care, often a child.
Fabricated illness refers to a factitious or made up disorder, whereas, induced illness is where illness is deliberately caused. Cases where the parent or carer wrongly report symptoms are much more common than cases where they induce illness in the child.
This behaviour may stem from various motivations, including a need for attention, a longing for sympathy, or a desire for control. The parents or carer does not necessarily intend to deceive the doctors, but their behaviour is likely to harm the child. For example, the child may have unnecessary treatment or tests, be made to believe they are ill, or have their education disrupted.
FII cases involve complex and sensitive situations that require careful investigation and collaboration among professionals.
FII should be suspected where there are significant differences between what parents report and what is independently observed about the child’s health or functioning. Also when descriptions of symptoms or findings do not make medical sense, or when a child’s symptoms are not fully explained by any known medical condition.
Parents or carers involved in FII may have personality or somatoform disorders or have unresolved psychological and behavioural problems. There have also been several reported cases where illness was fabricated or induced for financial reasons, for example, to claim disability benefits.
In care proceedings involving allegations of FII, careful analysis of the parent’s and child’s medical records will be required. DMR Collation can assist in this review by:
- Organising medical records (and any other relevant documents related to the claim) in document and chronological order, complete with pagination and a detailed index, including the removal any unnecessary duplicate or blank records, to create an easily navigable set of records.
- Conducting a thorough review of records to pinpoint any entries that either support or refute claims of FII, while compiling a chronological and detailed history of medical diagnoses and necessary treatments.
- Identifying discrepancies between witness statements and the contents of the medical records.
- Converting all paper-based records into digital, searchable formats for future use in proceedings.
- Redacting records to remove any privileged third-party information.
- Creating a “core bundle” of records tailored to the specific case requirements to minimize the overall volume of medical records required for court or expert review.
If you would like to find out more about how DMR Collation can assist in cases of FII please contact us at [email protected]
