Hundreds of other children were also removed from their families on the basis of Meadow's theory of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, that some mothers harm their children in order to draw attention to themselves. It is a tragic fact that occasionally a mother will kill her child. But it now appears that a theory, which at best might hold true in a few cases, was applied more broadly than was justified by the evidence. Children were removed from their families, with the best intentions, just in case one of their parents might harm them.
Meadow and his theories were a godsend for an overstretched child protection system trying desperately to avert tragedies such as those of Jasmine Beckford, Victoria Climbie and others. You didn't need hard evidence.
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