A Lakeland, Florida woman took her now 18 year old daughter to doctors, labs and hospitals nearly 400 times over a 5 year period.

The same woman took her 17 month old baby to the doctor about 40 times since her birth.

This family is very unfortunate – but not in the way that one might leap to conclude.

All those medical visits and tests, some of them invasive, were reportedly absolutely unnecessary.

Now the mother has been arrested on charges of child abuse.

All three of the woman’s children have been placed with a family friend, with the mother allowed supervised visitation only.

Physicians speculate that the mother suffers from Munchausen by proxy, a condition that drives mothers to pursue attention by subjecting their children to unnecessary medical examinations.

In some instances (although not this one), the mothers actually do harm to their children to perpetuate the diagnosis and treatment process.

Oddly, the mother only did this with her two daughters and not with her son.

Read more in this Lakeland Ledger article: Munchausen: When Care Becomes Crime.