Authorities in Texas have filed criminal charges against a mother for seeking medical care following a serious incident with her child. The mother is suspected of having her son undergo potentially unnecessary medical procedures, although she will likely face charges related to that allegation in another state. However, she still faces state crime charges in Texas for allegations of fraudulent behavior with Medicaid.
At the age of five, the woman’s son had a nasty fall from which he suffered a brief head injury. The injury put him in the hospital for a total of four days until he was eventually discharged. At the time, doctors apparently thought he would recover well, but prosecutors claim that his mother told other people that her son was now permanently disabled. Years later, she took him to another state to have multiple procedures, including a brain shunt and lumbar drain, but doctors in Texas say that they never referred the boy for any of those operations. Dealing with the no doubt overwhelming burden of caring for a sick child can be difficult, but there are some who might question whether it should be considered criminal to move forward with a procedure that differs from one doctor’s opinion.
In addition to the allegations of having him undergo unneeded medical procedures, both the boy’s mother and grandmother are currently charged with theft of up to $30,000. The grandmother allegedly submitted false claims that she cared for the boy during a certain period of time, for which she was reimbursed nearly $8,000 by Medicaid. It is now believed that she did not actually care for her grandson during this time and that her daughter possibly helped pull off the act by voluntarily signing off on time sheets.
Although she initially faced charges in Texas related to her son’s medical care, those have since been dismissed so as to allow authorities in another state to proceed with their own state crime charges. However, she still must handle the allegations of theft filed by police here in Texas. While dealing with the theft charges, it is it imperative that her presumption of innocence and rights be maintained and upheld throughout the criminal court process.
Source: star-telegram.com, “Mary Welch: Faces charges in Texas, Minnesota“, Deanna Boyd, Dec. 18, 2015
