Physician unwitting participation in abuse and neglect of persons with developmental disabilities

The vast majority of birth parents and foster parents for children with spe cial needs do the best they can in challenging circumstances. Many describe the frustrating circumstance of knowing more than their physicians about t heir child's unusual medical conditions. In general, physicians are well-ad vised to listen carefully to the reports of observant, caring parents and f oster parents, and to give these observations at least as much weight as th eir own. However, in the work of our traveling clinic we have observed a nu mber of situations of abuse and neglect which were perpetrated by parents o r foster parents, and where the actual acts of abuse and/or neglect were wh olly or in part endorsed, in writing, by the treating physician.