Coroner wants liquid paraffin added to the PBS after boy’s constipation death
The 11-year-old Indigenous boy died of a bowel obstruction when his parents couldn't afford to buy the over-the-counter remedy.
A coroner has recommended liquid paraffin be added to the PBS after an Aboriginal boy died of a bowel obstruction when his family could not afford the over-the-counter remedy.
The 11-year-old died on 24 March 2022 following multi-organ failure and severe coagulopathy after undergoing surgery revealing an impaction caused by a “very large” faecalith.
One week earlier his family had run out of liquid paraffin, recommended by doctors for his refractory constipation, and could not afford to buy more
The boy from rural Victoria — called RDZ by the coroner to protect his identity — had been seeing a paediatrician for constipation since he was three.
