Complaint Review: Carly Crawford APRN

The whole nightmare with this individual began about four months ago.  I have a three year old son who began showing some developmental delays when he was two.  My son didn't have a regular pediatrition because I had moved from another state recently.  I decided to bring him to Torrington/Winsted pediatrics to request referrals for specialists.

I called to make the appointment and she receptionist asked if this would be a check-up or if there were any concerns.  I told her my concerns, (language delays, feeding difficulties, etc...), she placed me on hold for a few minutes and then told me they couldn't see me for several months.  I went ahead and made the appointment, since there was no emergency.  He was eating and drinking, had tons of energy and was very happy.

The day of the appointment Carly came in and I immediately let her know I wanted referrals for a feeding specialist and to be checked for sensory issues/autism.  We talked for a little while about my sons medical history.  She seemed like a normal person.  We ended the session with her saying she was concerned about his weight but he was obviously healthy and giving me the referrals I asked for.  She said she wanted to see him again in two weeks so I tried to make the appointment but after standing there for ten minutes and being ignored, I had to leave or miss another appointment.  I did, however, let her know I would call to make the appointment the next day.

You can probably imagine my shock and horror to get a call from a social worker the next day.  She read me the report and I instantly knew it was Carly that had called.  It was very obvious because the things she reported kind of sounded like things we'd talked about but she'd either twisted them or turned them into outright lies.  For example:

• She told the social worker that I had no idea my son had any delays and didn't want to bring him to specialists
• She reported that he didn't make eye contact or conversate with her (classic autism signs, the reason I was there)
• She said that I only gave him three bottles a day of pediasure mixed with soy milk - in reality, I had told her that I gave him 3 bottles of pediasure a day to make sure he got all of his nutrients and then as much soy milk and water as he wanted.  I had explained that overloading him with vitamins and dairy were my reasons for this and she just gave me a blank look.
• She reported that I told her he had spent time at a daycare where 'something very bad happened' and refused to elaborate.  In reality, I told her his symptoms began when he was at a daycare and I suspected something had happened.  I got another blank look and she never asked me to elaborate, just moved on to a new topic.
• She said my son was 10 lbs underweight

I was completely shocked and confused.  I decided to give her a call and ask her why she made all that stuff up.  I did manage to get her on the phone and gone was the nice person I had talked to the day before.  Her tone was extremely rude and smug.  She wouldn't answer the question as to why she lied, she simply said, "I'm a mandated reporter."  I said, "Yes, I know, but aren't you supposed to tell the truth?"  At which point she said, "I'm glad your son is getting the help he needs."  I then decided to ask her, "Isn't the first rule of medicine to do no harm?"  She responded to this with, "No, that's just for Dr.s."  That conversation ended with me telling her I wished I could be there when karma pays her a visit for this but that I'd be there in spirit.

The following week I brought him to a real Dr. (MD) who examined my son and told me he was in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th for height, but that considering mine and his fathers weight and height this was actually normal.  (I should add that my son is very obviously healthy.  He has chubby rosy cheeks and while he's not fat, he is not scrawny at all.)  He became very upset when I told him what Carly had done and said at least twice that she has no idea what she's doing or talking about.  He said he was going to call her and I hope he did.

I was lucky to get a nice and normal social worker.  She verified that the report was bogus and closed the case as unsubstantiated. 

This whole episode caused extreme stress to both my son and myself.  The threat of having your child ripped away from you based on lies is horrible.  I was having anxiety attacks and couldn't sleep.  I knew I had done nothing wrong but after having Carly, who was supposed to be an ethical medical professional, do what she did, I didn't have much faith in anyone being honest.  I kept imagining the social worker being a liar like Carly and my son going to foster care. 

My son was terrified too.  I tried not to talk about it in front of him but we are extremely close and he senses my moods.  The first time the social worker walked in my door he began screaming and crying while trying to drag me out the door. 

I absolutely consider what she did child abuse.  I wish I knew why she did this, but all I can come up with are theories. 

1. She enjoys harming children.
2. She has to call DCF on a certain amount of people to make a quota.
3. She was on something, (drugs, alcohol) which made her hallucinate and she actuallly thinks she's telling the truth.

My best guess would be 1.  What prompted me to write this tonight was when I noticed she took my online reviews of her down.  I'm pretty sure that's not even legal but obviously she has no regard for laws, since making false reports to DCF is highly illegal.  I'm sick of horrible people getting away with terrible deeds so I'm going to post this report in as many places as possible.  She needs to be held accountable.