Dr. Debra Esernio-Jenssen
"4th Lawsuit Against Dr. Jensen 5-21-25"
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Lehigh Valley doctor is being sued in Philadelphia for over-reporting child abuse and causing parents to lose custody of their sick children. A judge heard preliminary motions in the case Wednesday.
The 48 plaintiffs attended the hearing Wednesday in matching blue T-shirts. Parents had shirts that read, “My child was kidnapped.” The children had ones that read, “I was kidnapped.”
Their suit alleges they were victims of “medical kidnapping,” that while seeking treatment for a sick child, they were reported for abuse and lost their children.
Michael Kwatkowsky says his daughter’s school called a caseworker when she missed several days of school because of illness.
“She says, ‘Oh, can you guys come to the hospital just to have her checked?’ and while we were they they said, ‘Oh, by the way, she’s not leaving with you. We’re going to take her into custody.’”
The suit says one Lehigh Valley Health Network doctor, Debra Jenssen, accused many of the families of Munchausen by proxy, an extremely rare syndrome where parents induce symptoms of illness in their children.
“They let her run rogue for ten years, and when you’re a parent, you get accused of child abuse, you have a black cloud over your head. Some of them spent seven years fighting criminal charges. Some of them lost their children for weeks, months. So it was really tragic,” said Attorney Francis Alexander Malofiy.
Malofiy says the parents slowly discovered each other and compared notes. They formed a group called Child Interrupted to fight back. Their suit is one of four against Jenssen, who resigned last year under pressure.
The hearing in City Hall concerned defense motions, including asking for a change of venue from Philadelphia. Judge Gwendolyn Bright did not say when she might rule.