Child starved to Death in the UK

[dodgyviper]

Extract from ITN said:

A young girl starved to death after refusing to eat over her terror of dentists, an inquest has heard.

Eight-year-old Sophie Waller from St Dennis, Cornwall, had an operation to remove her milk teeth after she stopped eating or speaking because of pain in one of them.

All eight of the teeth were removed so she would not have to undergo repeat operations. However she continued to refuse to eat solid food once discharged from hospital.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090209/tuk-child-star...

Struggling to get my head around this - Ok the hospital appears to have been disinterested, as does the GP. However - who the hell allows a child to starve to death because the hospital said don't bring her in. Surely anyone with half a brain would be camped on the doorstep of the hospital/GP.

Also, either way you look at it, this is appalling journalism:- pointing the blame at the health services whilst not mentioning the idiocy of the parents - or, if the parents aren't to blame, not telling us why.

Genuinely shocked by this.

[singlecoil]

The parents (and the child) must be lunatics. Perhaps they are back on their medication now and looking for somebody to blame (ideally somebody with money, like a health authority)

[Rob.]

Bizarre. When I read the title I though it was a form of abuse where the child had no choice but to starve - but for the child to willingly go hungry aswell as her family not get help - most odd. Perhaps this is another case our friend Darwin could associate with?

[MK4 Slowride]

How do you let your kid get so worked up over a dentsit! Deal with it & you can have a magaziene & a lolly after kid FFS.

Everytime I go for a 'checkup' I have a filling booked (at least 1) for my next visit. So drills & needles every other time.

[Simpo Two]

That doesn't make sense. If she was afriad of dentists how did she get to have all her teeth taken out, and why were there only 8 milk teeth? Milk teeth fall out anyway.

Somebody in the loop, child, parents or both, is/was mentally ill.

[grumbledoak]

This would appear to be an entire catalogue of incompetence (up to, and including, the journalism). There was no need to take out the seven healthy milk teeth. And, then the parents allowed her to starve? Was everyone involved a 'special' person?

[Hyperion]

Sounds like the parents were being fobbed off by the health authority.

Most people would realise something was wrong and common sense would prevail...but there are some incredibly stupid people out there [i.e the girls parents]. The health authority is there to care for these people and they failed miserably.

Edited by Hyperion on Monday 9th February 16:29

[ShadownINja]

I'm not sure why they didn't treat it like any other 8 year old with an eating disorder.