Psychiatrist retracts conclusion suspected 'starving mother' isn't dangerous

Dr. Ya'akov Meir-Weil, the psychiatrist who evaluated the ultra-Orthodox woman suspected of systematically starving her son, issued a letter on Tuesday saying that contrary to his initial diagnosis, he was not able to determine whether or not the woman poses a danger to her other four children.

The woman was arrested earlier this month after police secretly videotaped her reportedly removing a feeding tube from her 3-year-old son's body, after he was hospitalized severely underweight.

After a two-hour evaluation, Weil had originally concluded that there was no indication that the woman was "unfit to stand trial, psychotic or has trouble telling right from wrong." Weil sent the letter containing his new evaluation to Jerusalem's district psychiatrist and to Rabbi Yisrael Froelich, both of whom had criticized the conclusions of his initial evaluation.

Froelich argued that Weil had been pressured to write the letter by the media, adding that in his letter Dr. Weil had stressed that he "stands behind every word I wrote in the evaluation." However, due to claims that he was not privy to police evidence, which would have been relevant to determining whether the mother was dangerous or not, Weil wrote that he would like to take back the statement in which he said that "in my professional opinion the woman can continue to care for her children without posing a danger."

Froelich added that Weil "hasn't met the woman since issuing the initial evaluation and therefore couldn't have changed his mind. He is only saying that he is not a police investigator and therefore cannot remark on dangerousness."

In another letter, addressed to Jerusalem's district psychiatrist, Weil criticized Hadassah University Hospital, where the woman was diagnosed as suffering from Munchausen Syndrome, a condition whose sufferers inflict injury upon themselves or others to elicit sympathy. Weil said that it was impossible to diagnose such a disorder in the short time that the woman was observed, and that he was able to absolutely determine that she was not psychotic.

The boy was transferred from Hadassah University Hospital to an undisclosed facility on Sunday. A gag order was placed on all details pertaining to the case. The doctors who examined the boy said that his condition was steadily improving and that he was gaining weight.

The mother was released to house arrest on Friday and permitted to come in contact with her other four children. The prosecution is expected to file an indictment against her in the coming days.