A woman in Arkansas has been charged because she allegedly deceived doctors, claiming that her adoptive son suffered from a mysterious illness. The woman even went so far as to plan for her son’s end-of-life care in a hospice.
According to The New York Post, Kristy Schneider was charged with endangering the welfare of a minor after she turned herself in on Tuesday.
In 2019, Schneider and her husband, Erik, lost custody of their adoptive son, Louie, after a court learned she had deceived doctors about his medical condition.
Schneider allegedly made false claims that the child suffered from a chromosomal disorder and told doctors he was in “significant and persistent” pain, for which they prescribed high doses of narcotics like fentanyl and morphine.
Schneider also kept family and friends updated frequently about the boy’s illness on her since-deleted Facebook page and personal blog.
Authorities believe Schneider suffers from Munchausen by proxy syndrome. Days after the boy was removed from the couple’s custody, he could eat and walk independently, despite having been put in a wheelchair and on a feeding tube by the couple for months prior.
