LOOKING BACK : The People...

Corbin Beideman, 3, wasn’t home for Christmas. “There’s no telling when he’ll get out of foster care,” a relative says.

It’s been 15 months since Corbin’s parents, Michele and Bill, of Henderson, Nev., took their toddler to UCLA Hospital to find out why he was underweight and frequently sick. That’s when a UCLA psychiatrist, Dr. David Charles Beck, said the problem was with the mother, not the child (View, May 24). He found Michele to have Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy--a rare emotional condition that can lead to child abuse--and alleged that Michele underfed her child and possibly caused his infections. The Beidemans claimed the diagnosis was incorrect, but the Clark County, Nev., juvenile court sided with the doctors.

Michele was arrested and charged with child abuse. Corbin was sent to foster care, and doctors said he would stop being sick and start gaining weight once away from his mother.

The Beidemans are under a juvenile court gag order not to discuss the case. But a close relative, who asked not to be identified, says Corbin has had “lots of infections since he was taken from home, and he hasn’t gained much weight.” She says the child is scheduled for “tonsil surgery to help stop the infections.”

Oscar Goodman, the Beidemans’ defense attorney, says that, since being taken from his family, “all the good things UCLA doctors said would happen to Corbin did not happen.” Goodman also says he has worked out “a resolution” with the district attorney’s office in which the criminal charges against Michele Beideman would be dismissed and the family reunited “once Michele has gone through therapy and has fulfilled obligations imposed by the court system.”

Doctors at UCLA refused comment, citing patient confidentiality.

Nevada Supreme Court records show that another Beideman attorney, Bob Gaston, has filed an appeal on behalf of Corbin and his parents against the Clark County district attorney’s juvenile division.