How Doctors Failed Gypsy Rose

At the end of December, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison after serving seven of her ten-year sentence. Her story is a perfect example of why it’s important to trust your instincts when you see or hear about something that doesn’t sit right, especially when it involves something that could severely interfere with people’s lives 

In 2015, Blanchard and her online boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, were convicted for the murder of Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard (Blanchard’s mom). Dee Dee suffered from Munchausen By Proxy and forced Blanchard to take powerful medications for leukemia and muscular dystrophy, diseases that she didn’t really have. Blanchard was forced to use a feeding tube, wheelchair, and an oxygen tank. Dee Dee also abused Blanchard by beating, chaining, and starving her. Overall, Dee Dee stole Blanchard’s childhood and teenage years; Blanchard had no say in what happened in her own life. Blanchard wanted to escape, which is why she convinced Godejohn to murder her mother.

Blanchard’s story is hard to fully comprehend. Throughout the time that Blanchard was being misled by her mother, she was on lots of strong medication and went to the doctor's office frequently. When I first read about her story, I couldn’t help but wonder how Dee Dee convinced the doctors about Blanchard’s condition, and how she got away with it for so long, especially considering that several doctors say they found red flags in her case but didn’t do anything about it. According to ABC News, Dr. Bernardo Flasterstein, (one of Blanchard’s several neurologists), claims that he was told by Dee Dee that Blanchard had no medical records because they were lost in Hurricane Katrina. He was also told that Blanchard had signs of cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy; however, during his time with Blanchard, he noticed that there was no evidence to support Dee Dee’s claims of other illnesses. When he confronted Dee Dee, she “left the office in a storm”  telling him and his nurses that they “didn’t know what they were doing.” Flaterstein never saw them again. Although he found Dee Dee’s behavior suspicious, he didn’t think he had enough evidence to report it, so he did nothing. He wasn’t the only person who was suspicious of Dee Dee. Following her death, other people (friends, family, doctors) who knew Dee Dee and Blanchard also came forward and shared similar concerns. Rod Blanchard, (father of Gypsy and ex-husband to Dee Dee), says that something never felt right about Gypsy and how ‘sick’ Dee Dee claimed her to be. In an interview with ABC News, Rod said that during Gypsy’s doctor appointments, “Dee Dee had to be there the whole time” and “Dee Dee was so controlling.” Knowing all this, he still didn’t report it.

Because no one reported their suspicions, Blanchard was forced to continue living under her mother’s control. Blanchard started to piece together what was happening in her life and became desperate to escape. She went on a Christian dating website, where she came in contact with Godejohn. After talking back and forth online, they entered a relationship. Blanchard became comfortable with Godejohn and started describing her situation to him. He was angered by the situation, (especially because he and Blanchard were planning on living together in the future), and Blanchard asked him: “Will you kill my mother?”  

On June 9th, 2015, Godejohn came to Blanchard’s house late at night, prepared to kill Dee Dee. Blanchard gave him a knife and was then told by Godejohnto to go to the bathroom and stay there until he was done with the job. Blanchard said that she heard Dee Dee call her name a few times, but after that, the house went dead silent. Godejohn and Blanchard then ran away, but only 48 hours after the stabbing, they were caught. They were both arrested and charged with murder. Blanchard was given a 10-year sentence, while Godejohn was sentenced to life. On the day Blanchard was given her sentence, her family, doctors, and friends were all shocked when they saw her walk into the courtroom and “felt stupid” for ignoring all the red flags. They wished that they had spoken up before it got to the point that Blanchard was forced to participate in the killing of her own mother. 

Although several people in Blanchard’s life sensed that something was wrong, they carried on with their lives and ignored the unsettling feeling that the sweet, loving, caring Dee Dee they knew was doing something wrong. If they had trusted their instinct, maybe Blanchard’s life would have looked very different- we’ll never know. Blanchard’s story is a reminder to be cognizant of your surroundings and instincts, and that just because you think that something you see on the news could never happen to you, doesn’t mean it won’t.

By Marin Zocca