A Florida family has been unexpectedly separated while on a trip to Boston for a medical check-up for their five-year-old son. Michael Seklecki Sr., the father of two boys, has accused Boston Children’s Hospital of medically kidnapping not just five-year-old Mikey but also three-year-old Noah.
“The whole case is a nightmare,” Seklecki told The Iowa Standard. “It’s a dispute between two doctors — one in Florida and Boston’s Children’s Hospital. We flew as Florida residents to Boston for specialty care and they disagreed and just medically kidnapped them. No allegations, no nothing. For five months they’ve sat in custody. This is what Boston Children’s does. They medically kidnap kids.”
Seklecki and his wife are accused of medical child abuse, Munchausen by proxy and doctor shopping, according to a press release. The family spent thousands of dollars traveling from their Florida residence to Boston to seek expert advice on Mikey’s unique illness.
Mikey suffered from chronic, severe gastrointestinal complications and the family began traveling to Boston Children’s Hospital regularly for appointments in November of 2021. His medical team in Florida was unable to provide a diagnosis or treatment plan.
Under the care of Dr. Samuel Nurko at BCH, Mikey was diagnosed with colon sigmoid dysmotility, according to the release. After being referred to genetics for further testing, Mikey was diagnosed with Fabry Disease, a rare and potentially fatal disease.
Treatment by BCH called for infusions every two weeks for the rest of Mikey’s life. The family returned to Florida to being treatment after BCH refused to do immediate treatments. BCH instead wanted to wait six months to see how the condition improved.
Once back in Florida, the family met with the medical team there and those providers disagreed with the treatment timeline provided by BCH. They started the life-saving treatment immediately instead of waiting for six months to pass.
The release states Mikey’s Orlando Advent health geneticist started treatment by providing medication for the severe chronic pain and their pediatric surgeon put a central line in for the infusions.
The family returned to BCH for a follow-up shortly after the Fourth of July. They’ve been in Massachusetts ever since.
When BCH found out about the treatments in Florida, Seklecki said they “medically kidnapped” Mikey. BCH contacted the Boston Department of Children and Families who took them into custody and have held them for five months. The family has been charged with child abuse, Munchausen by proxy and doctor shopping, according to the release.
Recently, the department has taken Noah into custody as well. The family has been able to see their children for one hour per week during their time being held by the state.
There is a court date scheduled for tomorrow (Nov. 9), but Seklecki’s expectations for the hearing are low.
“The state has refused to send the children back to our home state,” he said. “They took our three-year-old with no allegations and took him into custody as well. Noah has not health issues. For five months we have been trapped up here. We can’t go back to Florida. I’m self-employed. They will not introduce any medical records from Florida into evidence. The Massachusetts Department is saying they’re not certified records. Florida providers provided all medical records, but there’s nothing they can do because it isn’t in their state.”
Seklecki has been advised to be silent about the entire situation, but he said that isn’t possible.
“At first we were quiet about it thinking that this is just a misunderstanding,” he said. “They have no intentions of giving us the boys back. We can’t go back to Florida or we would have to abandon our kids.”
Seklecki said Mikey’s condition has not improved since going into the state’s custody. Instead, he said, they’ve taken him off all of his medications and they aren’t doing the infusions, which he said are “absolutely necessary.”
BCH initiated the whole thing, Seklecki said, but the state moved the kids to a different hospital once they took custody. At that hospital, a child abuse pediatrician wrote a three-page “complete BS report,” Seklecki said.
The family went to Boston because Florida lacked the ability to diagnose Mikey. The Florida medical team didn’t disagree with the diagnosis, but the rift deals with the treatment.
“We had no clue,” Seklecki said about the consequences of the July trip to Boston. “A family road trip has turned into a humongous legal battle that was initiated by Boston Children’s Hospital.”
Seklecki said they’re trying to put a gag order on him, but he is committed to talking to the media.
“They don’t want what they’re doing publicized because it is illegal and unconstitutional,” he said. “This type of behavior has got to stop. We have a right to advocate for our kids. We have a right to advocate for our sons. Our kids have been voiceless for the last five months. Every week we see those kids and what am I supposed to tell them? They have no clue what’s going on. We were a functional, loving family. It’s unbelievable that the state has that much authority and power.”
Seklecki said his wife was told during an individual interview that there are no plans for reunifying the family.
“I cannot believe they are not following the law,” he said. “They have nothing. We’re financially stable. There’s no criminal record, we’re not on drugs, nothing. We don’t even live in Massachusetts. Our doctors in Florida wanted to come in and testify and they would not allow it. Medical records are not admissible. A doctor on my son’s team knows him very well and has gotten involved and he was told to stay out of it.
“Our son almost died in Florida. Florida lacks specialty care for rare diseases. We didn’t know what was wrong with our son. We wanted to go to Boston to find a diagnosis. Florida agreed and referred us to Boston. After (the diagnosis) we went back home to treat what we now knew was the disease. We found doctors who could treat it but didn’t know how to diagnose it. If I would have ever known what would happen, I wouldn’t have stepped foot in Massachusetts.”
The Iowa Standard reached out to Boston Children’s Hospital for comment but has not heard back from the media relations department. We will issue an update if we do. Employees are still working remotely due to COVID, so we had to email.
When calling the Boston Children’s Hospital, the voice on the phone notes it is “where the world comes for answers.” Unfortunately, visiting BCH for answers has led to this mess for Seklecki and his family.
