Photo / Tracy NealThe child was central to a case of alleged medical child abuse, in which the mother was accused. The Crown alleged the offending constituted “medical child abuse”, which was a diagnosis from a different doctor when the child was discharged from a North Island hospital in January 2021. Defence case built around ‘medically fragile child’The defence case was built around what was described as a “medically fragile child living with complicated medical devices” and the actions of a desperate mother trying to help her child. “When reflecting in hindsight on a parent’s conduct, when looking at medical child abuse, under- or over-reporting symptoms can be seen as suspicious?” Dyhrberg asked. “We are trained to always have consideration of medical child abuse.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 19, 2026 10:32 UTC