Wendi Scott

Wendi Scott (born 1975) is a Frederick, Maryland mother of two who was charged on November 16, 2007 with sickening her four-year-old daughter to draw attention to herself in what appears to be a notable case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.^[1]

Scott was charged with first- and second-degree child abuse, first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.^[1] She was ordered to be held in jail on $75,000 bail.^[1] In the event she posts bail, she will not be allowed to have contact with her daughter and two-year-old son.^[1] A pretrial conference was set for January 7, 2008.^[2]

Frederick County Assistant State's Attorney Lindell K. Angel had urged Circuit Court Judge G. Edward Dwyer to set Scott's bail at $250,000, calling her a danger to herself and others.^[2] However, defense attorney Mary Drawbaugh asked for a lower bail, stating that Scott turned herself in and has kept her weekly psychiatric appointments.^[2] Drawbaugh also commented that she expects "a mental health-type plea in her future."^[2]

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Munchausen Syndrome evidenced by Scott in the past

According to court statements, Scott had previously feigned cancer for about a year between 2002 and 2003 by shaving her head and eyebrows and plucking her eyelashes.^[2] She moved about using a wheelchair or walker most of the time, convincing her husband, pastor, and friends that she was seriously ill.^[2] While it is unclear if there was a definitive past diagnosis, Angel characterized Scott in the November 16, 2007 hearing as having "a history of Munchausen Syndrome."^[2]

Daughter's illness and investigation

In the hearing, Angel described how how Scott intravenously fed her daughter magnesium and withdrew blood to make her appear sickly and caused her daughter to suffer from severe diarrhea, blood loss, vomiting, high fever and a rapid heart rate.^[2] During this time, her daughter was being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but doctors there had been unable to find a cause for her symptoms.^[2] During three years of inpatient and outpatient treatments at Walter Reed, 72 procedures had been performed on the child, including blood transfusions and bone marrow tests because of suspicions of leukemia. Doctors admitted, that, if not for that suspicion, none of the procedures likely would have been required.^[2]

Online journal

While the child was at Walter Reed, Scott had been posting an online journal documenting the travails of parenting a seriously ill child, Angel said.^[2] "The doctors are at a loss," Angel said, reading from the journal. "But we will continue to go on, and through friends, the hospital and everyone's prayers, we'll get through this."^[2]

"This journal documents the day-to-day torture this child was put through at the hands of her mother," Angel said. "Her doctor said this was the most sinister form of child abuse he has seen."^[2]

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