Girl dies because of religious objections to medical care

Source: Google AI summary of search for "australian girl dies from ketoacidosis because parents had religious objections to insulin treatment". This case illustrates to what lengths people will go to when they have been taught and believe that their teachers are accurate spokesmen for God.

Elizabeth Struhs, an eight-year-old Australian girl, tragically died of diabetic ketoacidosis on January 7, 2022, after her parents stopped providing her life-saving insulin due to their strict religious beliefs. [ABCNews, The Guardian]

Her family and 12 other members of a small, extreme Christian sect known as the “Saints” believed exclusively in divine healing and rejected modern medical intervention. Instead of seeking medical assistance as her condition rapidly deteriorated over nearly a week, members of the congregation gathered at the family home in Toowoomba, Queensland, to pray and sing around her. Following a criminal trial, 14 members of the group—including Elizabeth’s parents, her brother, and the sect leader—were convicted and sentenced to prison terms for her death. [BBC, The Guardian, ABCNews]

Details of the Case

• Prior Warning Signs: Elizabeth was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2019. At that time, her mother, Kerrie Struhs, was jailed for child neglect after leaving her undiagnosed and close to death. Upon her release from prison in late 2021, the mother openly declared to welfare workers and police that she remained steadfast in her belief that God would heal her child without medicine. [CTVNews, abc.net.au]
• The Father’s Role: Her father, Jason Struhs, had historically been skeptical of his wife’s extreme beliefs but converted to the sect in 2021, subsequently cutting off Elizabeth’s daily insulin treatment. [The Guardian, The Guardian]
• Systemic Failures: A coroner’s court inquiry held in Brisbane revealed that child protection services failed to heavily monitor or prioritize Elizabeth’s case due to high caseworker workloads. Caseworkers were also reportedly “overly influenced” by the family’s seemingly clean, upper-class home environment, overlooking the immediate danger. [The Guardian]
• Legal Outcomes:
  • Parents: Jason and Kerrie Struhs were sentenced to 14 years in jail for manslaughter.
  • Sect Leader: Brendan Stevens received a 13-year sentence.
  • Other Sect Members: Eleven other members of the congregation received prison sentences ranging from six to nine years for their roles in withholding care. [BBC]

During the conclusion of the Coroner’s Court Inquiry, Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard was moved to tears by the testimony of Elizabeth’s estranged older sister, Jayde Struhs, who had fled the cult at age 16. The coroner is currently reviewing recommendations to state authorities to prevent future tragedies, noting that authorities’ “lack of curiosity” regarding the family’s religious extremism was a catastrophic missed opportunity to save her. [The Guardian, ABCNews]