SUSPECTED FLORIDA MUNCHAUSEN TRIAL
				July 20 Update (Opening Statements) July 21 Update July 22 Update Aug. 3 Update Aug. 26 Update Sept. 29 Update Oct. 5 Update Oct. 6 Update Oct. 7 (The Verdict)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Court TV) — In order to support their allegations that Kathy Bush suffers from Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, Florida prosecutors assembled more than five boxes of medical records to be admitted as evidence Wednesday. But the prosecution had one big problem — almost no witnesses showed up in court to testify about the records.

Bush is on trial for aggravated child abuse for allegedly purposely making her daughter Jennifer chronically sick over a two-year period. Florida prosecutors say Bush has Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, an illness that causes mothers to harm or fabricate illnesses in their children in order to get attention for themselves. Between August 1993 and April 1995, Bush took her now 12-year-old daughter Jennifer to the hospital on 130 separate occasions. Jennifer Bush underwent approximately 40 surgeries for chronic illnesses such as immune system deficiency disorder, gastrointestinal problems, and seizure disorders.

Jennifer's chronic illnesses appeared so severe that she had to have medical tubes surgically inserted into her intestines, stomach, and the area around her heart. Mrs. Bush reported that Jennifer experienced numerous instances of seizures, vomiting, and diarrhea. According to medical records. Jennifer suffered from sepsis, a rare and sometimes fatal blood infection, 15 times while in her mother's care. Jennifer was removed from her mother's care in 1996 and her condition has since improved.

Because of a pre-trial ruling by Judge Victor Tobin, prosecutors cannot specifically mention Bush's alleged Munchausen disorder. Tobin said that prosecutors must introduce evidence of the psychiatric disorder before they can mention it to the jury and link it to Bush.

Prosecutors wanted to start hinting at the disorder by having several doctors and their assistants testify about Jennifer Bush's voluminous medical records. However, several subpoenaed witnesses failed to show up Wednesday, flustering the prosecution and aggravating the judge, who threatened to imprison missing scheduled witnesses. Prosecutors suspected that the missing witnesses may have been confused by the court schedule because there had been several previous delays in the testimony in the three-year-old case.

However, one prosecution witness who did show up was nurse consultant Sandra Baysinger, who analyzed Jennifer Bush's medical records. Baysinger testified that the young girl had spent 640 days in various hospitals, underwent 40 surgical procedures, and endured 1,819 non-surgical procedures between 1993 and 1995.

Bush denies suffering from a mental disorder and claims that she never purposely harmed her daughter. She insists that Jennifer was critically-ill and had a gastrointestinal illness and immune system deficiency disorder that was genetic. If convicted of aggravated child abuse, Bush could face up to 15 years in prison.

Kathy Bush will go on trial for a separate, yet related, charge of fraud at a later date. In that case, prosecutors believe Bush lied about her family's income and assets in order to receive Medicaid benefits. She could face up to 30 years in prison on that charge.

Court TV's Bryan Robinson contributed to this report.