Doctor warned Elizabeth Struhs would not be safe at home, inquest hears
A Queensland coronial inquest has heard that a children's hospital specialist warned in writing in 2019 that Elizabeth Struhs could not return to her mother if insulin was refused. The eight-year-old died in 2022 after members of a religious sect, including her parents, withdrew her medicine.
A coronial inquest into the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs has begun in the Australian state of Queensland. On its first day on Monday, the hearing was told that a specialist at the Queensland Children's hospital warned in writing, years before the girl died, that she would not be safe at home with her mother.
Elizabeth, who had type 1 diabetes, died of diabetic ketoacidosis on 7 January 2022 at the family home in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane. Her parents and other members of a religious sect calling itself the Saints had withdrawn the insulin she needed, and sat singing and praying while she slowly died over several days. Last year all 14 adult members of the group were convicted of manslaughter, including her father Jason, mother Kerrie, brother Zachary and the sect's leader, Brendan Stevens. The group did not believe in medicine and expected Elizabeth to be miraculously healed and resurrected.
The 2019 warning
Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard heard from an experienced specialist who helped care for Elizabeth after she was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit on 17 July 2019. The doctor cannot be identified for legal reasons. The girl was extremely unwell and needed intubation and a ventilator. The doctor said Kerrie did not come to the hospital, denied in a phone call that her daughter was sick or would need medication, and asked no questions about her condition.
One day later the doctor wrote a nine-page report, sent to child safety authorities and police. It said that if the mother continued to deny the need for insulin, Elizabeth could not be in her care, with the word "not" in bold.
Return home
Elizabeth was nonetheless sent home under a voluntary, short-term intervention parental agreement with child safety, which the court heard was arranged without the hospital team's knowledge. The doctor said significant risk remained. Her father cared for her for three years; he had been sceptical of his wife's religion. Kerrie later converted him while serving a prison sentence, and he stopped giving Elizabeth insulin.
The inquest continues.
