The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Munchausen syndrome" ...
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Doubts About Cassey
Over the course of a decade, AIDS activist Cassey Weierbach told her tragic story of contracting HIV from a man who raped her. The local people in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley helped her when she needed it, as they "held her hand when she was laid up in a hospital bed. They’ve cooked her meals and done her laundry. They’ve passed the plate for her on Sunday and paid her rent when it was overdue." But a pastor revealed her accusation that Weierbach did not have AIDS, and was deceiving everyone. Others questioned the veracity of Weierbach's story, as it also included details of a best friend, the alleged rapist's daughter and also a rape victim of the same man, shooting herself in front of Weierbach. Weierbach also claimed her father died in a famous plane crash. Both individuals were still alive and well, and quoted for the story. The Morning Call tells the story of a community and a woman who may or may not have been telling the truth about an affliction with a terrible disease. In the wake of the story, Weierbach was charged with defrauding the state of $67,000 worth of medical benefits.
Tags: AIDS; HIV; Munchausen syndrome; fake illness; fraud; medical fraud
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No title (id: 13927)
Dateline NBC investigates how two mothers who believe they have been falsely diagnosed with a disease called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Each has a child who is chronically and inexplicable ill. After many doctors failed to correctly diagnose what was wrong with the children, both mothers were accused by UCLA doctors of poisoning their children to draw attention to themselves. (May 3, 1996)
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No title (id: 13893)
For more than two decades, Waneta Hoyt's five children were presumed victims of sudden infant death syndrome. Their case was used in research to prove that SIDS runs in families. In 1994, a forensic pathologist insisted that the study hid homocides.. An investigation led to a confession of murder from Hoyt. "Goodbye, My Little Ones" chronicles the saga. (March 1996)
Tags: Lighty CAR Goodbye; my little ones Contest entry Medicine Munchausen syndrome by proxy Health 384 pgs. BOOK
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Mama's Boy
Westword investigates the case of a woman whom doctors believe suffers from Munchausens's Syndrome by Proxy, a mental illness in which parents make their children ill in order to gain attention; The woman was subsequently charged with 38 counts of child abuse.
Tags: child abuse; mental illness; custody battle