Factitious patients with fictitious disorders: a note on Munchausen's syndrome.

OBJECTIVE OURS: To review historical aspects and note several contemporary manifestations of the Munchausen syndrome, including "Munchausen by proxy" and "pseudo-Munchausen", to offer our respect to the infamous McIIroy (the quintessential example), as well as to encourage interest and assuage irritation by medical attendants. THEIRS: Impatient to be patients, dying to see doctors, hooked on hospitals, and seeking "ill" gotten gains, they thrive on medical investigations.