A licensed nurse suspected of suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy is accused of misleading doctors in several states regarding her 10-year-old daughter, who needlessly had a pacemaker, feeding tube and IV port installed, authorities said.
Alisha Newman, 34, was charged Tuesday in Milwaukee with physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm and child neglect after taking her daughter to see a pediatric gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin this month, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
The girl, who appeared severely ill, was admitted to a pediatric ICU unit after being diagnosed on May 7 with severe shock and a litany of other ailments, including acute renal failure, damage to her organs and acidosis, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the newspaper.
Tests revealed that the girl had a common gut bacteria and was put on antibiotics for 10 days, her second hospitalization in two months with a severe infection, according to the criminal complaint. Five weeks earlier, the girl endured a 21-day hospital stay in Oklahoma for Klebsiella sepsis and bacteremia.
But during her daughter’s hospitalization in Milwaukee, Newman told doctors her daughter had been previously diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, mitochondrial disease and other serious medical conditions.
Staffers at the hospital later confirmed that the girl had a pacemaker installed on her heart, as well as a port to receive intravenous fluids and a feeding tube, according to the criminal complaint.
Newman made those claims about her daughter’s health despite an evaluation in November 2016 by a team of doctors at the hospital who ruled out muscular dystrophy and mitochondrial disease.
That led to a full review of the girl’s medical records, which showed a pattern of Newman giving false or misleading information to doctors about her daughter in six states, including Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Tennessee, the complaint shows.
The hospital’s pediatric medical director later indicated that there’s a “high degree of concern” by several medical providers that the girl is a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, or the act of a caregiver fabricating or inducing an illness in another person, typically for attention or to meet other emotional needs through the treatment process.
Newman is a licensed nurse in Oklahoma, WITI reports. Her preliminary hearing has been set for June 7.
“This is a case that, in essence, involves a continuing course of conduct and offense that has lasted the entirety of this child’s life,” Milwaukee County Deputy District Attorney Matthew Torbenson said during Newman’s initial court appearance Tuesday.
But Newman’s alleged criminal acts weren’t intentional, her attorney claims.
“And I think that also speaks to whether she would continue to pose any potential danger to the alleged victim in this case,” attorney Martin Pruhs told a judge.
Newman remained held on $50,000 bond Wednesday at the Milwaukee County Jail, records show.
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