My Books
Has your child suddenly developed OCD, tics, ADHD, anxiety, anorexia, or other difficult behaviors? Sometimes the explanation for this sudden and severe onset may be as simple as an infection.
Has your child suddenly developed OCD, tics, ADHD, anxiety, anorexia, or other difficult behaviors? Sometimes the explanation for this sudden and severe onset may be as simple as an infection.
Who am I?
Beth Alison Maloney began her legal career in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. She is nationally known for her unique expertise in medical kidnapping cases, and her ability to obtain press coverage of abusive practices by hospitals, doctors, and child protection services. She works nationwide with personal injury attorneys pursuing justice for parents. Her writing career began with the 2009 publication of her pivotal memoir Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD. Knowing the power of a true story and vowing that no child would needlessly suffer as her son had, she recounted her battle with the medical community to heal him. Her appearance on the Today Show (click here to watch the video) on the date of publication brought national attention to strep-triggered mental illness (PANDAS/PANS). She next wrote Childhood Interrupted: The Complete Guide to PANDAS and PANS, which provides parents with the information they need to recognize and find treatment for children afflicted with PANDAS/PANS. Her third book, Protecting Your Child from the Child Protection System, is based on over 20 years experience as a lawyer, guardian ad litem, and nationwide consultant in the field of child protection law. The book levels the playing field by delivering
What is PANDAS/PANS?
Sometimes when children present with difficult behaviors, they are given a mental health diagnosis without considering whether an infection might be the root cause of the disorder. When the child’s behaviors are the result of strep antibodies attacking the basal ganglia of the brain, the condition is known as PANDAS: Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Strep. Once the condition is triggered by strep, subsequent exacerbations can be caused by other bacteria or viruses such as the flu. When a child comes down with inexplicable mental health symptoms, and strep is not the reason, there may be another infectious cause of the behaviors and that is known as Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). Lyme and mycoplasma are examples of what might be the reason. Even COVID has been recognized to cause mental health symptoms in children.
Many doctors still refuse to accept the research and the link between infections and mental health issues, which results in children remaining needlessly sick.