Dentist fear girl starved to death

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Dentist_phobia_girl_starved_to_death_after_refusing_food&in_article_id=526915&in_page_id=34

An eight-year-old girl starved to death after developing such a fear of dentists she refused to eat, an inquest heard today.
Sophie Waller underwent an operation to remove her milk teeth after she stopped eating or speaking because of pain in one of them.

However the inquest was told that after she was discharged she continued to refuse to eat solid food.

Her parents Janet and Richard, from St Dennis, Cornwall, said they told doctors Sophie was only consuming small amounts of yoghurt, fruit and "build up" drinks prescribed by a GP and were told she would be "ok".

A week later Sophie was so emaciated they could see her spine through her back and her hair was falling out.

The couple told the hearing they rang the hospital but were told by a nurse not to bring her in as she was now under the care of community child psychologist Dr Kerry Davison.

Mrs Waller, 34, said: "No-one saw her after she was discharged from hospital.

"I told Kerry Davison she was sucking on a water melon, she told me that was enough for her to survive on."

Paediatric pathologist Dr Marie-Ann Brundler said Sophie died on December 2, 2005 from acute renal failure caused by starvation and dehydration.

Dr Brundler said she would have expected a health professional to have noticed Sophie's emaciated state had they seen her before she died.

Mrs Waller said Sophie was "devastated" when she discovered her teeth had gone and had a long-standing phobia of dentists.

The inquest heard she lost around 11 kilos in the four weeks before she died, consuming small quantities of yoghurt, mashed up fruit and fruit juice.

On November 28 Mrs Waller said the hospital refused to take Sophie back and after speaking to Dr Davison she was advised to contact her GP who prescribed "build up drinks" over the phone but did not see and examine Sophie.

Mrs Waller said: "The only contact we had was with Kerry Davison and the one time with the GP.

"I just wished she had come out to look at her or if the hospital had let us return."

Mr Waller, 35, said: "This could have easily been avoided, if we could have just gone to the hospital."