Do No Harm? Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy: Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome [Paperback]

This has to be the least biased book I have ever read covering this topic. The author portrays MSBP in a very thought provoking manner. He leaves the media hysteria behind and searches for the truth in these cases where the truth is hard to find. His brave attempt to get to the truth in these situations will no doubt help shed light on the tragedy of these cases for families that are falsely accused. Without denying that real abuse exist in this world at the hands of parents, he has exposed that parents are not the only abusers of children. Will this report bring the reality of what is happening to children at the hands of some of the worlds most powerful countries social systems, while maintaining a system that will protect children that need protection? One can only hope at this point.

Having read `Sickened' by Julie Gregory immediately before this book, and having conducted some minor research online into the aftermath of Julie's story and discovering the denial and counter-accusations stemming from Sandy Gregory (Julie's mother & perpetrator of MSBP - even going so far as to post a defensive piece in her foster daughter's name,) I must admit that reading this book felt very much like it was siding with Sandy and advocating the benefit of the doubt in all questionable cases - with an almost naïve belief in the goodness of humanity, which is somewhat inappropriate when dealing with a sinister and deception-based syndrome like MSBP.

This book strongly sympathizes with the plight of innocent mothers accused of MSBP rather than provide a balanced and informative view on MSBP. It is literally crammed with the stories and experiences of women who have been accused of inflicting harm on their children and the resulting turmoil these accusations have had on their family life. Pages and pages are devoted to the experiences of women who have had the displeasure of being wrongfully accused. Yet information about landmark and recognised cases in the history of MSBP (e.g. Mary Bryk) are confined to less than a tiny paragraph. The case of Kathy Bush also seems to end on a very sympathetic note towards Mrs. Bush, as though it is not quite certain whether this is a true case of MSBP or another victimization of a mother by the state, (despite Kathy being found guilty and convicted of causing harm to her daughter. And despite the daughter recovering and becoming a healthy child once removed from the care of her mother.)

Whilst I can agree that real cases of MSBP are rare and that the families who have been erroneously accused of MSBP are no doubt deeply agonized and likely endure intense periods of hardship and persecution during the process of investigation, this book was weighted far too heavily towards the angle of the harm a wrongful accusation of MSBP can do. Far from being neutral or without bias, the author's viewpoint on this whole topic was evident from the start. A clear and rather telling clue is the fact that the section `The argument for MSBP' is literally half the size of `The argument against MSBP' section. The book also feels somewhat paranoid in nature, as though urging all mothers out there to be vigilant against becoming yet another woman out of the (no doubt) millions being falsely accused each year. For example, the author uses an emotive journalist writing style, evident in sentences such as: "You could be next." "She could be you." (Referring to an aggrieved mother in one of the endless case studies.) Sentences like these really caused me to roll my eyes and doubt the integrity of the book.

As someone who's intrigued by MSBP and interested in reading about real and documented cases of MSBP, this book was NOT what I was looking for at all and I did not enjoy it in the slightest.

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Edit: On further reading, some of the case studies in this book are absolutely horrific and it's a wonder that they were ever chose for publishing.
Canadian Terri's section is a real gem. It seems unedited and straight from the source as it appears to try to portray her in the best possible light. The section includes all her numerous complaints about her husband and the reasons she blames him for the breakdown of their marriage, and includes far too many unnecessary, mundane and wholly irrelevant details in her story. Ultimately she appears to be a very foolish woman with a low level of self-awareness.
Here is a woman whose child is turning blue from suffocation and yet she decides to drive her baby to the hospital herself (only after first receiving the recommendation from her doctor) and then proceeds to get stuck in rush-hour traffic. She then wistfully considers that perhaps calling the emergency services would have been a better choice. Furthermore, during her second pregnancy, she is struck by an inexplicable and sudden bout of intense, debilitating pain, for which her first course of action is to call her doctor, where she is promptly put on hold as the doctor is occupied, before ONCE AGAIN being told to go to the hospital. She passes out several times while she wonders how she is going to make it to her car in order to drive to the hospital. She then blames people for not calling 911 for her. "Through all of this no one thought to call 911 to get me some help."
The story becomes more ridiculous, with her waiting an hour for her husband to get home to cart her to the hospital, the car running out of gas on the way there due to the husband's choice of priorities of buying gas or rescuing his wife, and her labelling him "the biggest idiot in the world" due to this mishap. When they finally arrive at the hospital, the pain appears to pale in comparison to her anger at the recent events and she walks unaided into the hospital in a huff. After a long, complicated and mysterious medical history featuring her children, they are eventually taken off her when they have to have their stomachs pumped after obtaining her prescription medicines. All the while, this woman is portrayed as the victim.

Suffers of Munchausen's by Proxy are supposedly complex, manipulative and highly devious in concealing to the world what they are secretly doing. It really makes you wonder whether this author was taken for a ride or not by some of the women in his case-studies.

This book is written by a journalist. It charts the whole subject of MSbP from a researched and objective view. It makes for shocking reading.

People are falsely accused of something that doubtful exists. People's lives are ruined and turned upside down through unreserched tripe that doctors use to abuse women who challenge their authority.

I enjoyed this book. It gave me food for thought and will be a huge asset in my research into this phenomenon. Buy this, buy Eric Mart's Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy Reconsiderd, read the ott complaints by doctors on the BMJ website and draw your own conclusions. As the child protection laws become even more draconian, understand that no one with children will be safe from false allegations. Just don't trust your doctor........