Elizabeth Struhs Inquest Opens After Earlier Hospital Warning

A coronial inquest into the death of 8-year-old Elizabeth Struhs opened on Monday before Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard. The Guardian

A coronial inquest is an official inquiry led by a coroner to establish how a person died. It does not convict or sentence.

Elizabeth, who had type 1 diabetes, died from diabetic ketoacidosis on 7 January 2022 at her family home in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane. Type 1 diabetes means the body cannot make insulin, and diabetic ketoacidosis is a dangerous buildup of acids in the blood when insulin is missing. Her parents and other members of a religious group had stopped her insulin and sang and prayed while she died over several days.

The group, known as the Saints, did not believe in medicine. Its members believed Elizabeth would be miraculously healed of diabetes and resurrected after death. All 14 adult members were convicted of her manslaughter last year, which in this context means causing death through a criminal failure to act, including her father Jason Struhs, mother Kerrie Struhs, brother Zachary Struhs and leader Brendan Stevens.

The inquest heard evidence about an earlier crisis. Elizabeth was admitted to intensive care at Queensland Children's Hospital on 17 July 2019 in a similar incident. Kerrie Struhs was later charged and convicted in 2021 of failing to provide the necessaries of life over that episode, a charge that covers basic care such as food, shelter and medical treatment, after openly refusing medical care for her daughter.

A medical specialist who treated Elizabeth in 2019 wrote a nine-page report warning that she could not safely be returned to her mother if Kerrie continued to deny the need for insulin. The report was sent to child safety officials and police. It stated that type 1 diabetes requires complicated care from parents. In the warning about Kerrie's care, the word "not" was emphasised in bold.

The specialist told the inquest that Kerrie refused to come to hospital to see Elizabeth. She denied her daughter was sick or would need medication. She asked no questions about her condition.

Queensland authorities face scrutiny as the inquest examines the death. The Chronicle Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has pledged to take necessary action to improve government systems after Elizabeth's death. The Guardian

The broader context here is the gap between a written clinical warning and protective action. A hospital team identified risk and put it in writing. It notified child safety and police. A criminal conviction followed the first incident. Yet a second withdrawal of insulin proved fatal.

In my view, that is why the Kirkegaard inquest will be watched less for its account of belief than for its reconstruction of decisions. The convictions settled criminal responsibility for the death. The coronial process asks a different question. It traces information, authority and follow-up across more than two years, and the testimony about non-attendance, denial and silence in 2019 gives that inquiry a fixed starting point.