Justina Pelletier Back In Hospital: Teen Being Fed Via IV Because She Cannot Eat

Justina Pelletier is back in the hospital. The teenage girl, who was removed from the custody of her parents and spent 16 months inside a medical care facility, is now being put on an IV because she cannot eat. Pelletier, 16, was transported to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for acute gastrointestinal distress last week.

Pelletier has Mitochondrial Disease, and was taken to the Boston Children’s Hospital to be treated for the flu in February 2013. The condition is a genetic disorder that often causes weakness and the loss of muscle coordination. Justina was reportedly living a normal life prior to the visit to the Boston hospital.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Justina Pelletier’s parents were only able to communicate with their daughter via secret messages folded inside origami notes. Lou Pelletier, the teen’s father, deemed the actions which has kept Justina from her home “kidnapping.” Before a local judge issued a gag order in the case, local news station WTIC-TV was investigating decisions involving the custody of Justina Pelletier.

After being admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital, she was set to be examined by her specialist. Before the anticipated doctor could see Justina, a different team of doctors arrived and questioned the original diagnosis of Mitochondiral Disease, and declared an entirely different condition was impacting the young woman. Mitochondiral Disease is known to be difficult to diagnose, and some sufferers have stated to support groups that they have been accused of fraud and parents have been accused of abuse when misdiagnosis occurs.

Linda Pelletier, the teenager’s mother, said that the new team of doctors informed the family that Justina had Somatoform Disorder. If the woman’s statements are accurate, Boston Children’s Hospital staffers immediately called the state’s Department of Children and Family, and the state refused to let the parents leave with their child. Somatoform disorder is a mental, not a physical, illness. Some sufferers of the condition reportedly feel real physical pain, a symptom that doctors have not been able to explain.

Pelletier, who is from West Hartford, Connecticut, is reportedly being fed intravenously while she undergoes further testing. The Philadelphia Children’s Hospital is often regarded as one of the top pediatric care units in the country.

Lou Pelletier said that both he and his wife are confident in the care their daughter is being given in Philadelphia, and decided to have her transferred to the facility because of their expertise in dealing with their daughter’s condition.

Was the Pelletier case an example of a medical kidnapping? What do you think about Justina Pelletier being back in the hospital and fed through an IV?

[Image via: Facebook]