Mayo Clinic calls out CNN's story of medical kidnapping as 'inaccurate' and 'irresponsible' [View all]

CNN’s two-part series, “Escape from the Mayo Clinic,” told the story of a caper straight out of a movie plot.

There was Alyssa Gilderhus, an 18-year-old high school senior from Sherburn, who was recovering from a Christmas Day aneurysm at Rochester’s Mayo Clinic. There was her mother, Amber Engebretson, who reportedly had been badgering doctors with questions and suggestions for Alyssa’s care until she was barred from the hospital.

Requests for transfer to a new facility had been denied, and behind the scenes, Mayo had been filing for emergency guardianship for Alyssa. Looking back, her family says if something hadn’t been done, they might have lost her forever.

So the scheme was hatched. They feigned a visit from Alyssa’s frail Grandma Betty, who was too weak to make the trip to the hospital room. Then they wheeled Alyssa down to the parking lot, where her mother was waiting with a van, and swept her inside. She was finally going home, her mother promised. They sped away.

Read more: http://www.citypages.com/news/mayo-clinic-calls-out-cnns-story-of-medical-kidnapping-as-inaccurate-and-irresponsible/491036701