British Girl Starves After Teeth Pulled

(AP)  When 8-year-old Sophie Waller cracked a baby tooth eating candy, it set off a chain of events that led to her death.

Sophie had such a fear of dentists that she refused to open her mouth for examination, so doctors at her local hospital took out the tooth in an operation. One of the medical team told a coroner's inquest that they removed all seven of her other baby teeth at the same time to avoid the need for future procedures.

After the surgery Sophie refused to eat or even open her mouth for her parents, the couple told the inquest. But she was sent home anyway, and starved to death three weeks after the operation.

"No one saw her after she was discharged from hospital," mother Janet Waller said. "I told (a child psychologist) she was sucking on a watermelon, she told me that was enough for her to survive on."

The parents said the hospital mishandled Sophie's follow-up care, referring them to a child psychologist who told them not to worry about Sophie's plummeting weight. Janet Waller said she also was told to consult her family doctor, who prescribed nutrition drinks over the phone but did not see the girl in person.

Pediatric pathologist Dr. Marie-Ann Brundler said Sophie died at home on Dec. 2, 2005 from kidney failure caused by starvation and dehydration. The inquest was told Sophie weighed 72 pounds when she went into hospital and lost a third of that weight before she died.

An official at The Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, 250 miles southwest of London, said there had been failures in Sophie's care, and it had changed its procedures.

"The impact of Sophie's death has been a wide-ranging impact across all of the disciplines that were involved," John Ellis, a pediatrician at the hospital, told the inquest. "There have been changes."

The hospital said it would not comment further until the end of the inquest, which was continuing Tuesday to establish the facts behind the girl's death.

Janet Waller told the inquest in Truro that Sophie had developed a fear of dentists after her tongue was nipped during a checkup, and had refused to let a dentist look at her loose tooth.

"Because Sophie would not open her mouth for examination, I wanted to eliminate any further dental problems," Tamsin Hearle, a specialist in pediatric dentistry, was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper.

Hearle said the parents signed a consent form for the procedure. The Wallers said they thought they were consenting to one tooth being removed. Janet Waller told the inquest that Sophie was "devastated" when she found out the eight teeth had been removed.

She said that doctors did not adequately take care of Sophie after the girl was sent home from hospital on Nov. 17, 2005, eight days after the operation.

Janet Waller said she and her husband phoned the hospital to express concerned about Sophie's weight loss and refusal to eat, and were told not to bring her in, but to talk to the community child psychologist assigned to the case.

Sophie's father, Richard Waller, said he phoned the psychologist "every day, sometimes twice a day, to say how unwell she looked."

"I kept asking her to come round but she said she would next week and there was nothing to worry about," he said.

The psychologist, Kerry Davison, told the inquest Tuesday that she spoke to the parents two days before Sophie died and was told she was eating.

"On Nov. 30, Mr. Waller said he was concerned about Sophie's weight, he passed the phone to Mrs. Waller who seemed more optimistic and said she had been eating fruits and yoghurt," Davison said.

Ellis, the pediatrician, said Sophie had stopped eating when she had loose teeth in the past, and "it was clear there were psychological issues" around her refusal to eat.

A coroner's inquest is required in Britain to establish the facts when someone dies unexpectedly, violently or of unknown causes, but has no power to punish anyone. The coroner is expected to rule next week.

The Wallers have criticized the time it has taken to hold the inquest. The coroner's office said it was a complex case and it took time to gather reports and inquiries from the different agencies involved.

[omgarethereanyleft]

This girl did not die because she had ALL of her teeth pulled. She had 8 baby teeth pulled. She had other teeth in her mouth. She refused to open her mouth and eat. It is not the dentist's fault. The parents apparently said she was eating fruits and yogurt and whatever. The parents apparently misinformed the doctors. Although concerned, they did not seem concerned enough to bring her to the ER. If my kid started losing that much weight I would not be on the phone asking advice, I'd be in a car running to the ER, but then again common sense is lacking these days and everyone relies on others to make decisions for them. But I suppose that is safe so when something does go wrong you can blame someone else.

[msay3]

Socialized national health care, folks!!! Gotta love it!!!!

[jamster31]

How could so many people be so stupid?

[bl_tenn1]

So the poor 8-yr. old child with a valid fear of dentists has to be put under to remove a tooth and in order to keep from being bothered in the future the good doctor/s remove ALL her teeth. Can you imagine how traumatizing that would be? For a little child to suddenly wake up with no teeth. And this was done unnecessarily It might have broken me too. I would like to remove the cold, heartless doctors'' teeth. All of them. See how they feel about life after that. Whatever the policies were/are this was unconscionable.

[bl_tenn1]

So the poor 8-yr. old child with a valid fear of dentists has to be put under to remove a tooth and in order to keep from being bothered in the future the good doctor/s remove ALL her teeth. Can you imagine how traumatizing that would be? For a little child to suddenly wake up with no teeth. And this was done unnecessarily It might have broken me too. I would like to remove the cold, heartless doctors'' teeth. All of them. See how they feel about life after that. Whatever the policies were/are this was unconscionable.

[ka_ree4]

Take this from a nurse, people- too many people, parents, caregivers, assume that doctors are a)smarter than they are, b) always know what they''re doing and c) have the patients best interests at heart. Let me tell you, while there a great deal of ethical, wise and wonderful medical profesionals out there some are just complete unethical morons with a god-complex... That being said- yes the parents should have scooped her up and taken her to the ER. But at the same time- they were trusting in medical personnel who were supposed to look after their daughters care.

[jenagain2005]

don''t blame the whole country for one incident in one town...bad parenting and bad medicine happens every where...i read the dailymail.com...there is mess every where...UK even has kids taken from good parents and then refuses to give them back...so watch throwing stones, they could backfire on you!

[barbaram99]

Some churcy people have their daughters teeth pulled so they will stay home and not run off, I saw that on TV. That teen abuse. It happens in Ameica. Here in Seattle a Dr.. pulled all a child''s teeth all once..The reason he did the child is poor. Anyway he is sitting behind bars. Yes aloy od shiit happens in America that should not..

[httpwwwnews]

They ought to lose their licenses and go to prison for giving a diaganois over the phone.

A relative of mine had a hysterectomy for cancer then called the doctor saying she had other problems. She was diagnoised with diabetes over the phone and prescribed insulin. Needless to say, the cancer had metastasized to her stomach, lungs and other internal organs, and she died in agony four months later.

You have to see someone in person and take some time examining them to know what is wrong.

[harbinger09]

It is impossible to diagnose or treat anyone over the phone. That said, a psychologist is not a doctor and is in no position to determine the safe weight threshold of any child, or what constitutes and adequate diet. Due to her refusal to eat while in the hospital, she should have been seen by a medical professional --not a psychologist, then referred to a hospital for followup.

Reminds me of the time my youngest was vomiting and had diarrhea and I called the doctor and told the doctor my baby had stridor (corded saliva which is a sign of serious dehydration) The doctor told me not to worry, that it was just a cold and to give her popsicles. I told the doctor NOTHING stayed down--she poo-pooed me over the phone. Took my daughter to the ER. She had pneumonia and was immediately admitted. In hospital for almost a month--they said within the next 2 days she would have died without IV and other treatments.