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Justina Pelletier speaks out for the first time since coming home

NEW YORK — Justina Pelletier is speaking out in her first national interview since she was reunited with her family.

In an exclusive interview with FOX News' Mike Huckabee, the Connecticut teenager explains what it was like to live in a DCF facility here in Massachusetts.

The 16-year-old was put in DCF custody more than a year ago over a medical dispute. Doctors at Tufts Medical diagnosed her with mitochondrial disease, a disorder that occurs when structures that produce energy for a cell malfunction. It causes poor growth, developmental delays and muscle weakness.   But doctors at Boston Children's believed her symptoms were psychological and accused her parents of medical abuse.

In a new interview, Pelletier said no one should have to go through what she did.

"It was very scary," she said. "No one was on my side there, no one believed me there. Everyone thought I was faking."

Pelletier said officials said she was improving, but she was not.

The teenager, who said she loves her family and is happy to be back with them, returned home earlier in June.