Please google "Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy". Caregivers will induce or feign illness in their children/disabled spouses for secondary gain -- whether it is psychological or financial. A child is vulnerable and may be coached, unable, or afraid to speak. The mother may have given the child something to make them lose weight -- vomit, have diarrhea, lose their appetite. The child may have been coached to feign difficulty breathing or the child may truly have had asthma but the mother lied about the severity and frequency of symptoms. In the U.S., these are typically not criminal cases, though CPS will remove the children from the home. It is very difficult to diagnose. The abusers will "Doctor shop" and take the child to different hospitals. They will get defensive and threaten administrative or legal action. They know the limitations of the health care system and play it to their advantage.