The mother of a sick teenage girl caught in a year-long, custody battle with doctors collapsed on Monday after a judge decided the 15-year-old should be placed in foster care and not returned to her family.

The decision to prolong Justina Pelletier's separation from her family caused her mother Linda to faint at the Boston courthouse. The 56-year-old, who is diabetic, was stretchered out and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Speaking from her Connecticut home today, Linda Pelletier told MailOnline that doctors said her blackout was caused by the high stress she has been suffering over her daughter's ordeal, which the mother described as 'evil'.

Mrs Pelletier said: 'I ask my husband every day, ''Are they trying to kill her?'''

Mrs Pelletier and husband Lou have been battling Boston Children's Hospital and the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families to regain custody of their once vibrant daughter Justina since February 2013.

Justina Pelletier was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease, a rare genetic muscle-wasting illness, by Tufts Medical Center in 2011 and was undergoing a drug treatment program.

However last year, while being treated for flu at Boston's Children’s Hospital, experts said she had Somatoform Disorder, a stress-related mental illness where people 'imagine they are ill'.

When the teen's parents contested the hospital's diagnosis and sought to have their daughter treated by her own doctor, officials reportedly refused and a short time later, the girl was taken into the custody of the state.

RThe teenager was transferred to a residential psychiatric unit at the end of January 2013 and has remained there since.

Mrs Pelletier, who has three other daughters and cares for her 93-year-old mother at West Hartford home, told MailOnline on Tuesday: 'I have had no medical updates about my child. She is deteriorating - she can't stand, sit, she has chronic pain.

'When I saw her on Friday, her stomach was distended, she didn't feel well. But nobody helps her.'

Massachusetts Department of Children and Families said in a statement: 'The Department of Children and Families does not comment or provide any information regarding children in our custody. Additionally, the Court has maintained a gag order in this case, prohibiting any parties from discussing the case or details surrounding it.'

Wayside Youth residential unit in Framingham where Miss Pelletier is currently being held was unable to comment on specific cases.

The family is devastated that Justina is now scheduled to be moved from a residential center in Framingham to Shore Educational Collaborative which is even further from the family's home in West Hartford, Connecticut and makes it more difficult to visit.

Although the judge's ruling is only temporary until the next court date on March 17, it is another heartbreaking decision in an anguished year for the Pelletier family.

A gag order also remains in place over the custody proceedings until that time.

Mrs Pelletier said on Tuesday that she has no faith in the justice system since her daughter was taken from her family, calling the court hearings a 'joke'.

However the mother-of-four said her family was now being helped by several lawyers and organizations. She said: 'I'm so grateful, they have given me hope. I feel like God has finally listened.'
Mr Pelletier told MailOnline last month that his daughter's health had declined drastically.

He said: 'Her legs are paralyzed, she has no upper body strength and she is in constant pain because they have removed most of her medications.

She suffered a stroke when she was seven and it affected her short-term memory. She is considered learning disabled, yet she has had no education in the last year.

'Justina did manage to sneak a few notes out of the hospital but she can’t do that anymore. She has forgotten how to write and spell.

'From what we can gather, she spends 24 hours a day lying in a room. It is a locked psychiatric unit full of children with major psychiatric problems.

'Justina doesn’t have psychiatric problems, she is ill and she needs proper medical care. Once a week she is taken on a three-hour round trip to see doctors but that is it.

'We are only allowed to see her for one hour a week at a Department of Children and Families office. Health aside, she is a mess.

'She’s in a wheelchair yet she is getting no help with showering or grooming. When we saw her last it was 20 degrees outside and her hair was wet.'

Boston Children's Hospital have rarely commented on the case, but in a statement to MailOnline they said they were 'proud' of their work and the 'positive impact on the patient'.

The hospital did not address the family's specific allegations.

Boston Children’s Hospital said in a statement: 'Boston Children’s would like to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of our staff in caring for this patient. We are proud of their work and positive impact on the patient.

'Boston Children’s and our clinicians are particularly distressed that the inaccuracies surrounding this case have caused undo concern for the many children and their families with Mitochondrial Disorders in our care.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2567474/Mother-teen-girl-imprisoned-doctors-collapses-judge-rules-daughter-kept-foster-care.html