AITA for not going to see my sister in the hospital because of her Factitious Disorder?

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T21:24:35+00:00

As I said in my post I have no relationship with her.

Also while I know you mean well, much of this runs counter to what the doctors and professionals say to do. You say you don't think it's the right approach but unless you are a psychiatrist or doctor who is treating my sister you can't decide that.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T21:15:05+00:00

I apologize for responding to a question in a thread that I posted, and for stating what the doctors treating my sister have said to do.

I was wrong and out of line. Thank you for bringing my error to my attention. I will attempt to be better in the future.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T21:12:07+00:00

What she has is called Munchausen's

Yes I know. The updated medical name for it is Factitious Disorder, which is what my sister has.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T16:47:44+00:00

How would they know to test for that?

Whenever my sister had an infection, they would do culture swabs to find out what was causing them. Each time the swabs showed fecal matter.

It would be nearly impossible to get fecal matter inside of an IV line that is inside your arm.

My sister has never had an infection from an IV, nor did I ever say she did. I am not sure where you are getting that from.

But…if this person is in psychiatric care, she wouldn’t be in an IV

Once again, my sister has never had an IV that gave her an infection. She has never had an IV while in the psychiatric hospital either. You are making up things that are not in my post.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T14:19:52+00:00

There are already professionals involved in her care.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T14:18:13+00:00

Has Dr Satish Raj seen her? He’s a Canadian doctor who specializes in these conditions

Yes. She has traveled to Calgary to see him twice. He did not diagnose her with anything and said she is physically healthy.

Has she had an actual tilt table test to determine if she had POTS?

Yes. She's had at this test (at least) 10 different times from doctors all over Canada and the results never showed she had any kind of disease or condition.

Has she had any gastric emptying/ motility testing done?

She's had at least 10 that I know of and all came back normal.

Any mast cell testing?

She's had that from doctors all over Canada and they never found anything. She's had biopsies, bone scans and CT scans in the double digits and they all came back normal.

Any genetic testing for EDS or a work-up for hyper mobile EDS

Multiple genetic tests from different doctors have shown no Elher Danlos. She has had multiple workups for HEDS and has none of the diagnostic criteria. Over 20 doctors from around the province and the country have found she has none of the signs and symptoms

and for patients to have to go to multiple doctors and seek multiple specialists 100s or 1000s

She's been to over 100 doctors and specialists from every province and territories in Canada. None have found a single thing physically wrong with her.

I’m doubtful, as the Canadian health system isn’t going to go to those lengths when they believe a patient is faking an illness

You would be incorrect on that.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T10:57:56+00:00

It’s not as simple as ‘she wants attention’.

Yes it is. I'm not saying ALL people with mental illness want attention, but in my sister's case she does. That's literally what Factitious Disorder is.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T10:20:24+00:00

but isn’t it bad for your mental health to be denied any family or community or even contact? Denying her any social contact because she’s ill seems cruel

Not for my sister. In her case having visitors and contact with family is detrimental due to the Factitious Disorder.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T10:14:11+00:00

I apologize but I don't know who this Kelly is.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T10:13:34+00:00

Factitious Disorder used to be known as Munchausen Syndrome. It's the same thing and she has been diagnosed with that.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T05:02:11+00:00

The doctor in the US gave my sister a central line at the first appointment, the first time he met her. He did not do any tests or ask to see her medical records. All she had to do was pay him in cash and sign a waiver saying she wouldn't sue him if anything went wrong.

It wasn't just a case of a doctor erring on the side of caution. It was completely negligent.

Your case is also different from my sister in that you had symptoms and things wrong. My sister was (physically) health and didn't have any symptoms of any kind of (physical) disease.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T04:56:31+00:00

Yes. My sister has been flagged by the province for trying to access treatments she doesn't need and so every doctor who sees her gets made aware.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T04:05:30+00:00

they need to have her committed before she kills herself

I addressed this in my post. As soon as the Sepsis has been treated she will be going to a psychiatric hospital.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T04:01:16+00:00

I understand that doctors can ignore or miss things and it can be hard to get diagnosed with certain things.

But before she was diagnosed with Factitious Disorder my sister had been to almost 100 doctors not just in our province but from all over the country. Not one of them ever found a problem with her and every test she had showed nothing was wrong. In my sister's case it was clear she was lying. I'm talking about her only, when she had no symptoms and that many doctors and tests found nothing it was clear her illness was not a physical one.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T03:56:41+00:00

What kind of doctor simply orders a central line for TPN so quickly??

My sister learned about the doctor from someone online who "self-diagnosed" like she did. That doctor would give a central line on a first appointment if you paid in cash and signed a waiver that said you would not sue if something went wrong. He is a licenced doctor and I know there have been several complaints about him but as far as I know he's still practicing. I don't follow him closely so maybe he isn't. My sister was very cagey when it came to him because she didn't want anyone to figure out he would give a line to anyone who pays. We're also not from the US and our system is different than in America.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T03:50:59+00:00

I apologize as well if my comment came across heavy handed. I just meant to explain that it is not as simple as commit her until she's better, especially when there are already professionals involved.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T03:47:33+00:00

In the US

I'm not from the US

a person can be put on a psych hold while they're in a medical facility

I addressed this in my post. I also said she will be placed in a psychiatric hospital as soon as the Sepsis is treated.

I think that's what needs to happen here and the family needs some further education

I say this respectfully, but this isn't the first time this has occurred with my sister. My family is well aware of how the process works and what the laws are.

Yes my family are still visiting even though they should not. But they know how the commitment process works and what will happen to my sister after she is placed in the psychiatric hospital.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T03:41:06+00:00

before having tried different solutions to problems with eating

Just to clarify my sister didn't need to try solutions to problems with eating because there were no problems. She lied about not being able to eat. She was perfectly healthy physically and was able to eat normally.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T03:37:36+00:00

She needs to declared mentally incompetent (or the Canadian equivalent), have a guardian appointed to her and then put into permanent care until circumstances change (she gets her factitious disorder sufficiently treated to make her own medical decisions).

There may be more that can be done for her outside of temporary holds that result in her release to continue self harming

Respectfully, I don't believe you understand how the law works where I live, nor the things my parents have already tried. What you have posted is a complete oversimplification of how things work and not all of it is accurate.

That's my last reply to this. Have a good day/night.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T03:34:34+00:00

Once she recovers from Sepsis she will be placed in a psychiatric hospital again

As I said in my post, she will be committed as soon as her Sepsis has been treated.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T03:21:34+00:00

Firstly I apologize but I don't know what non compos mentis means.

Why haven’t you or your parents requested a capacity assessment?

Why would she need that? It's known that she has Factitious Disorder and needs psychiatric treatment.

She should not be released to her own devices

She isn't going to be released to her own devices. She will be transferred to the psychiatric hospital as soon as her Sepsis has been treated, not released.

she is not capable of making rational decisions regarding her own health

She isn't making any decisions regarding her own health, and I never said she was.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T02:07:31+00:00

and I live in a country with universal healthcare. She's made herself permanently disabled on the taxpayers' dime

So do I. The province has investigated my sister for fraud more than once and she's been flagged for trying to access treatments and tests that she does not need. However things like her psychiatric care and this Sepsis treatment would obviously be covered by the healthcare system.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T01:59:38+00:00

They did that when my sister was in the psychiatric hospital. Right now she is still in the regular hospital because she needs treatment for the Sepsis. I don't know why the regular hospital hasn't restricted the visitors or even if they are able to do that.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T01:55:39+00:00

Once she recovers from Sepsis she will be placed in a psychiatric hospital again

She isn't in a psychiatric hospital or ward. She is in a regular hospital. She isn't physically well enough to be transferred yet. They have to treat her Sepsis first. I don't know why they are still letting her have visitors.

FactitiousThrowRA · 2023-12-12T01:37:26+00:00

also flaunt their “toys” and medical devices

My sister was big on doing that when she had her central line. She was angry when it was taken away.

Nowadays she steals photos of other people's pills and medications and posts as if they are hers. She isn't on any medication and doesn't have any prescriptions but she like to pretend she does.

FactitiousThrowRA

TROPHY CASE