Using hidden cameras to monitor suspected parental abuse: a security requirement or an invasion of privacy?
Covert surveillance of patients suspected of having Munchausen syndrome by proxy at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite (formerly Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center), Atlanta, GA, resulted in considerable media scrutiny when researchers published their findings in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics. The researchers hid surveillance cameras in the rooms of 41 patients over a four-year period and, more than half the time, the videotapes confirmed doctors' fears that mothers were intentionally injuring their babies. Some of the most serious abuse involved mothers injecting their children with urine and feces, switching their medication, and even suffocating them to make them sick. This report presents details of the research, the involvement of security officers, and the reactions of local authorities and health officials.
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016735:Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D018907:Privacy; D012637:Security Measures; D014743:Videotape Recording