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Allegedly in a bid to ensure better treatment for leukaemia at a different facility, an Indiana mother injected fecal matter into her cancer-afflicted son’s IV bag – multiple times.
School teacher Tiffany Alberts, 41, has reportedly said that her actions were performed in the hopes that her 15-year-old son would be moved to a different hospital unit that offered better treatments, according to court documents obtained by Fox59 News.
The boy was being treated for leukaemia at Riley Hospital for Children, but several, unexplained infections were delaying treatment. Staff allegedly set up a video surveillance system in his room, which showed the mother injecting a suspicious substance into the boy’s IV bag with a syringe.
Upon police confrontation, Alberts claimed the substance she injected was water to “flush the line” because the “medicine that was given to him burned”, but later confessed to the substance being fecal matter, documents state.
As a result, the boy became sufficiently ill. He underwent multiple surgeries, experienced episodes of septic shock and even spent 18 days in the intensive care unit. His cancer treatments were delayed, and doctors fear they may have missed the window of keeping his leukaemia in remission.
The boy faced life-threatening health complications as a result of the mother’s actions.
According to the court papers, hospital staff told investigators that the teenager received his first round of chemotherapy in September before going home. Days later, he returned to medical aid after experiencing a high fever, vomiting and bouts of diarrhoea.
Doctors then performed blood tests, which uncovered unexplainable organisms normally found present in stool. The investigation was launched on November 17 when the medical staff could not explain why the patient had persisting blood infections.
Alberts has been charged with six counts of aggravated battery and one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury – all of which are third-degree felonies, according to records posted on the Marion County Sheriff’s website.
A judge has allegedly issued a no-contact order, and although medical staff say the boy could have died had he undergone cancer treatment while the blood infection continued, his health is now said to be improving.
