Doctors Warned About Elizabeth Struhs. Why She Was Still Sent Home
A Queensland police officer told a coronial inquest on Tuesday that child safety staff would not reconsider sending Elizabeth Rose Struhs home, even after doctors raised concerns. The officer, who spent 10 years as a child safety liaison, said police had to respect child safety's structured decision-making tools — standard checklists used to weigh risk — as "professional courtesy" once the decision was made. The Guardian
Elizabeth Struhs was eight when she died at her family home near Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, on 7 January 2022. She died of diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening build-up of acids in the blood that develops without insulin, after the injections she needed for type 1 diabetes were stopped. Her parents had withdrawn them. The Guardian
Her parents, Kerrie Struhs and Jason Struhs, belonged to a religious group called the Saints, which rejected medicine and believed she would be miraculously healed or raised from the dead. Kerrie Struhs told authorities in 2019 that she did not believe in medicine and urged Jason Struhs to choose prayer over medical help. Jason Struhs first gave Elizabeth insulin against the wishes of his wife and other children, but stopped in 2021 after adopting his wife's beliefs and joining her church group.
The inquest before Queensland Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard is asking whether more could have been done to prevent the 2022 death. A coronial inquest is a formal inquiry led by a coroner to establish facts around a death. A central focus is a 2019 hospital stay, when six-year-old Elizabeth was discharged after a coma from diabetic ketoacidosis. Child safety officers decided she should return home to her father, who was judged able to give the insulin injections. Staff said not returning her would be "more detrimental." The Guardian
Senior doctors at Queensland Children's Hospital raised concerns repeatedly after the 2019 case. They warned in 2019 that Kerrie Struhs might "sabotage" Elizabeth's long-term treatment, which requires several insulin shots a day, if they lived together. Paediatricians, doctors who specialize in children, urged child safety authorities to act to protect Elizabeth from her parents and other members of the Toowoomba group.
The return-home decision was made at a suspected child abuse and neglect team meeting led by child safety officers and attended by specialist police and health staff. Minutes from the meeting quoted a child safety officer saying Queensland Children's Hospital was "not agreeing" and "very vocal" about the assessment, and that removing Elizabeth "would be more detrimental" with the father stepping up.
Both Kerrie Struhs and Jason Struhs were convicted of failing to provide the necessaries of life over the 2019 incident, and Kerrie Struhs was jailed. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has pledged to take necessary action to improve government systems after Elizabeth's death.
The broader context here is how different agencies divided responsibility in a long-term care case. Clinicians focused on the ongoing medical danger from household beliefs and access. Child safety officers focused on the harm of removal and on the father's ability to protect. Police, in a liaison role, treated the formal risk checklist as final. The question for the coroner is not only whether the 2019 return was reasonable at the time, but how disagreement was recorded, passed up the chain, and reviewed when safety depended on one parent continuing treatment under family pressure.
