Tue, Feb-17-09, 03:25
|
Senior Member
Posts: 4,737
|
|
Plan: Ray Peat (not low-carb)
Stats: 00/00/00
BF:
Progress: 51%
Location: Brit in Europe
|
|
Bloody dentists an' all!
Get a load of this... Why on earth did they have to take all her teeth out??? The parents wish they had "followed their own heart". Too right.
amanda
Fear of dentists led girl to starve to death• Doctors failed to diagnose rare psychological illness
• Inquest told hospital did not provide proper careJohn Carvel, Social affairs editor
The Guardian, Tuesday 17 February 2009
An NHS hospital apologised last night for failing to provide adequate care for a schoolgirl who starved to death after her milk teeth were extracted.
The inquest into the death of Sophie Waller, an eight-year-old with an extreme phobia of dental treatment, found she had an undiagnosed psychological syndrome.
She was referred to the Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro after breaking a tooth on a boiled sweet. The hospital went ahead with an operation to remove all her teeth without understanding her fear of dentists. Sophie was so traumatised by the operation that she refused to open her mouth to eat and had to be fed by a tube before being sent home in November 2005. Two weeks later she died at home of kidney failure caused by starvation and dehydration.
The inquest at Truro city hall heard that Sophie had lost 11kg (24lb) and, when the pathologist examined her body, her hair was falling out and her spine was exposed.
Dr Emma Carlyon, the coroner for Cornwall, criticised the hospital for a sequence of mistakes. She said doctors did not diagnose a rare psychological condition that was described to the inquest as "pervasive refusal syndrome".
She added: "The severity of [the child's] malnutrition and dehydration was not recognised. This prevented her from receiving the medical support that could have prevented her death."
The hospital had intended to send a discharge summary to the family's GP, but this was never sent.
Carlyon, recording a narrative verdict, said she would be sending her findings to the local safeguarding children board.
Dr Ellen Wilkinson, medical director of Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS trust, apologised to the girl's family. She said: "There were shortcomings in the communication between the health organisation and Sophie's parents."
Dr Arnon Bentovim, a consultant child psychiatrist at Great Ormond Street hospital, had earlier told the inquest that doctors failed to organise a proper care plan and the girl was not seen by a medical professional after she was discharged from hospital. Her medical notes were sent to the wrong GP and no doctor was contacted directly by hospital staff.
Bentovim said: "It is likely that she was suffering from pervasive refusal syndrome, a very rare condition in which some kind of trauma results in a refusal to eat, drink or communicate.
"There was a failure to ensure that her ongoing medical care was fully managed and planned. The concern about her that was shown on the ward was not reflected in the day-to-day care plan in the community.
"This is a complex matter to manage. Clearly, the parents were at sea and would have valued the ongoing support of an informed nature about her nutritional needs. She could have been hiding the fact she was not eating or even spitting out food."
The girl's parents said after the verdict: "No words can express how we have felt and still feel. Our only regret is that we listened to the advice given to us by the professionals and did not follow our own heart."
|