BONUS: How Doctors Diagnose Medical Child Abuse

How does a doctor actually decide that a parent is making their child sick? Dr. John Melville is a child abuse pediatrician, president of the Ray E. Helfer Society, and one of the people who helped write the board exam that certifies child abuse pediatricians.

In this bonus episode, he walks me through how medical child abuse is diagnosed. He explains the difference between Munchausen by proxy, factitious disorder imposed on another, and medical child abuse. And he answers the criticism that child abuse pediatricians are self-appointed experts who took a short course and now override the specialists who know the patient best.

He also talks about what happens when he's wrong, in either direction, and about the myth that a child who's been abused is broken forever.

Dr. Melville has cerebral palsy, which affects his speech. He asked me to mention it up front.

Note: I didn't ask Dr. Melville about Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and he hasn't studied her case. He speaks here only about his own work, and for himself, not for any organization.

Written and hosted by Javier Leiva
Theme music by Joe Basile, thechicken.net

© 2026 Creative Babble

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