Evidence and Information

Fabricated or Induced Illness and Perplexing Presentations: Abbreviated Practice Guide for Social Work Practitioners Guidance from the British Association of Social Workers, published May 2022 The Guide describes what is meant by the terms Fabricated or Induced Illness and Perplexing Presentations and the evidence (and more importantly, lack of evidence) for their suggested indictors. It also challenges the notion that parents seeking the best for their child, are inadvertent

Fabricated or Induced Illness: The controversial history, missing evidence-base and iatrogenic harm. Andy bilson and Alessandro Talia This chapter is co-produced with parents who were wrongly identified as having Fabricated or Induced Illness in their child. It provides a brief history of the development of FII from the discredited work of Meadow and the miscarriages of justice at the turn of the century through to its current form in the 2021 guidance of the Royal College o

Fabricated or Induced Illness in England: Examining mortality and serious harm Andy Bilson, Alessandro Talia British Journal of Social Work, Sept 2025 https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcaf089 This paper critically examines the actual incidence of mortality and serious harm attributed to Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII)  in England, challenging the high-risk statistics often cited in official guidance. Study Scope and Methodology The study analysed 1,766 Serious Case Reviews (

FII and Perplexing Presentations: What is the Evidence Base for and against Current Guidelines, and What are the Implications for Social Services?" , Fiona Gullon-Scott and Cathie Long The British Journal of Social Work , Volume 52, Issue 7, October 2022, Pages 4040–4056 This paper critically examines the UK guidelines on Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII)  and Perplexing Presentations (PPs) , highlighting their potential to create bias and cause harm to families, particular

'Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another' is a condition described in the diagnostic manuals, DSM-5 and ICD 11 . It relies on the feigned , falsifie d, or induced signs, symptoms, or injuries - in other words deception - and intent to deceive must be present for a diagnosis. The Royal College of Psychiatrist's guidance explains that in Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) the boundary is drawn much wider as the intention to deceive is not necessary. ICD 11 states that the t

Mothers of autistic children: a study of their experiences with child-protection social services, and allegations of fabricated or induced illness   Pre-publication article by Sir Simon Baron Cohen and his team: S. K. Crockford, A. L. Pohl, M. Blakemore, C. Allison, S. Baron-Cohen The article, "Mothers of autistic children: a study of their experiences with child-protection social services, and allegations of fabricated or induced illness,"  highlights the alarming rate at wh

The prevalence and impact of allegations of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) Luke Clements and Ana Laura Aiello The research report by Cerebra and the University of Leeds, titled "The prevalence and impact of allegations of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII)"  (November 2023), reveals that FII allegations are widespread against parents of disabled children and cause significant trauma. The key messages are: Widespread Prevalence:  FII allegations are widespread, with pare

Article in 'Community Care ' Andy Bilson and Taliah Dreyak The article argues that Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) should be dropped as a child protection category  because its current framework is flawed, weakly evidenced, and causes catastrophic harm to families. It argues: Weak Evidence Base:  The FII label, which replaced the discredited Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP) in 2002, lacks robust empirical evidence. The guidance relies on "alerting signs" that were neve

Neuro-Normative Epistemic Injustice – Consequences for the UK Education Crisis and School Anxiety Emmie Fisher, Keren MacLennan, Sinead Mullally, and Jacqui Rodgers This commentary article in the 'Neurodiversity' journal argues that the growing crisis in UK schools—seen in high rates of children missing school and suffering from severe anxiety—isn't caused by the children themselves, but by a broken system  that doesn't fit them. The students who struggle most (those with Neu

‘I Can’t Go to School, It Isn’t a Won’t’: Lived Experiences of Neurodivergent Children's School Anxiety Within the UK's Systemic Crisis Emmie Fisher, Keren MacLennan, Sinead Mullally, Jacqui Rodgers and Effy Tzemou This article in the journal 'Neurodiversity' reports on a new research study that looked at why so many Neurodivergent children in the UK are experiencing severe anxiety and can't attend school. Although not directly concerned with FII, it illustrates one aspect of