The so-called Munchausen mom has undergone a psychiatric evaluation as she told the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court she would on Monday afternoon. This was part of her agreement leading to her release from jail to house arrest on erev Shabbos. She was seen in the Jerusalem clinic of Dr. Yaakov Weill late Monday night. Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) reported that Dr. Weill described the meeting as a “first introductory session”, expressing his hope the mother will return at least one or two more times, a necessary move to permit him to complete his evaluation.
State prosecutor Mayan Oren-Rimon had harsh words for the defendant’s lack of compliance, telling the court “four children are being held hostage. We do not know where they are and their condition, adding the mother’s failure to comply serves as witness to the lack of respect for the court and the agreement by the mother and the community”.
Intervening, representing a voice of moderation was chareidi askan and journalist Dudi Zilbershlag, who spoke in a pained voice during a Monday night interview with Kol Chai Radio. Zilbershlag rejected the decision by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, which he stated resulted in the collective punishment of thousands, while not sparing harsh criticism for the unacceptable violence seen as a result of the case. He stated “this is simply not the torah way,” adding that if we truly want to see results, we need to bring 500,000 people together to daven and recite tehillim, not destroy the city and property.
Zilbershlag was instrumental in mediating with Eida Chareidis GAVAAD Rav Tuvia Weiss Shlita, removing demands that the child be transferred from Hadassah prior to permitting the woman, Yenta bas Yocheved, from undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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11 Responses
You should use the word “alleged”, at least until the frum community agrees the doctors were guilty of nothing more than rudeness. Even some of the hiloni media are smelling something not in order.
Remember that the case is just as likely to involve a malpractice coverup, or politically motivated harassment (something the psychiatric profession is used for in many countries).
In Soviet Russia, it is standard procedure to send uncooperative “dissidents” to mental hospitals.
This mother is a well-known caring mother. The State medical authorities are trying to cover-up their malpractice by stigmatizing her, so that she will lose all cridibility when she appears before the judge in the pending malpractice lawsuit against Haddassah Hospital.
This is the only Yeshivishe news outlet that calls this Yiddishe Mama ” Munchausen Mom ” .
It’s time to stop .
If the hospital had nothing to hide, they would allow the child to be moved. In fact, they want to be able to choose if and where the child should be moved. Have you ever heard of something like this, giving a hospital custody of a child?! Obviously, justice in Israel doesn’t include the population who lives in Meah Shearim — they are too “backwards” and “violent” and “unemployed” to be given human rights, no? Because that is the reality — Israeli society views them as less than second class citizens and tramples their rights, but never so overtently blatant as this one.
Not only are there eye witnesses (including chareidi ones) to the mother tampering with the child’s feedings, but the child is up from 7 kilo to almost 10 kilo in the short amount of time the mother has been out of the picture. That is an incredible weight gain for a child who only lost weight for over a year.
The child had lost all of his hair from malnutrition at least a year before the hospital allegedly started giving him chemo.
I am not saying the Hadassa Hospitals aren’t culpable. Even if they didn’t medically mistreat this child, they had suspicions for months before they acted on them and let the poor child get too close to death.
For what it is worth, Munchausen by proxy is a personality disorder, not a psychiatric disorder. It isn’t generally considered curable. It is just a description of the type of abuse. The treatment is to keep the perpetrators away from children because even once confronted the probability of doing it again is very real.
DEAR CL:
WHERE DID YOU GET ALL THESE “FACTS?”
ARE THEY FROM RELIABLE, IMPARTIAL SOURCES, OR ARE THEY SPIN PRODUCED BY THE DOCTORS AT HADASSAH-EIN KEREM?
Deepthinker, she is having a few sessions, not locked away in a hospital. Please, these comparisons don’t help.
No.5 “CL”, I dont know who you are and honestly I dont want to know who you are!!
You obviously are a representative of the Hadassa Hospital and should therefore admit publicly who you are and what you stand for. This “innocent”-sounding-concerned-citizen act that you are portraying is sickening and disgusting.
1) If you stop chemotherapy then the weight can go up!! If you allow the carers to give the child food then his weight can rise!!
2) The hair-loss is far more likely to be from chemotherapy (as we all unfortunately know) than malnutrition.
3) The only suspicions that the hospital had were recently that the mother might sue them for malpractice and illegal testings etc. There were no suspicions on the mother until she began complaining.
4) Your knowledge of Munchausen by proxy is also biased. One of the top proffessors in Israel (Head of Dept in the prestigious Beit Berl) has publicly decried the use of Munchausen. She has declared that in most modern countries (including US and UK) the whole theory of Munchausen has been disproved and THERE IS NO SUCH THING AT ALL. It was invented by doctors to cover themselves and there are lawsuits pending against doctors who testified against mothers using this theory. Imprisoned mothers have been released in these countries but only in Israel they have managed to uncover this lie and use it again. You, dear CL, are well aware of these facts but continue to pump out this lie in order to push the hospital agenda.
CL,
You have tried this “star witness” bit before, and it makes you out as ridiculous.
You are quite obviously a Hadassah staff member, out to save your skin and career. This baby has been in a hospital ward (NOT private room) for months. AND, the hospital expressly forbade anyone from giving this child food by mouth. Promptly after the mother’s arrest, the hospital made an emergency about-face, and began stuffing this child by mouth. There are eyewitnesses to both the earlier policy and the stunning reversal.
You, as other medical staff elsewhere, will eventually stand trial for using this “theory” to cover-up massive malpractice, and probably a whole lot more.
I don’t know any of you and I have no negius here, but I do know the head of this department from personal experience with a niece of mine and he treats hundreds of chareidim with utmost devotion and dedication as well as sensitivity to their illness and religion.
Unfortunately, it has become a trend in certain chareidi circles that whenever they don’t like something they erupt into violent behavior. Lo Zu Haderech!!!! This has never been the way and it is a huge Chillul Hashem.
Let us all withhold judgement and diagnoses without knowing all the facts.
Hadassa Ein Kerem is the leading Hospital in the middle east. Boycotting it will only be shooting ourselves in the leg.
It is time for the community to start acting responsibly and using askanaim and Rabbanim to work these things out on a professional level.
Violence is for Iran etc…
Do we really want to be portrayed like those animals?
Believe what you want, but I am a witness. The hospital is culpable for not investigating and saving this child sooner. I saw it myself when my child was inpatient 11 months ago. We spent weeks in the same ward and saw and reported to the doctors, nurses and social worker what was going on. I have had nightmares about what she did for almost a year.
He hasn’t had his hair in a long time, even when he was in Har Hatzofim where they don’t have oncology patients.
Chaim Yehuda Leib ben Yenta has been on my t’hilim list and will remain there until I hear otherwise.