Danish woman drains half litre of blood from son every week for 5 years

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Danish woman drains half litre of blood from son every week for 5 years

Copenhagen - Doctors got suspicious and alerted police, who secretly filmed her.

By AP

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Published: Mon 11 Feb 2019, 7:47 AM

Last updated: Mon 11 Feb 2019, 12:14 PM

A Danish court has sentenced a 36-year-old woman to four years in jail for having drained 500 milliliters (more than a pint) of blood from her young son as often as once a week over a five-year period.
The court in Herning, western Denmark, says the woman - a trained nurse - performed 110 drains using a catheter on the boy between the ages of 1 and 6, and told hospital doctors that his low blood count was due to a rare bone marrow disease.
The court said Thursday that doctors got suspicious and alerted police, who secretly filmed her.
A court-ordered psychiatric report said she suffers from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental condition where caregivers make a child ill in order to attract attention to themselves.
The woman was not identified.


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