Doctor takes on child services in fight over her son’s care
Her teenage son is in state care to manage his autism and eating disorders
A doctor whose 14-year-old child with autism was admitted to hospital weighing 35kg has won the right to appeal against child services taking responsibility for her son’s care.
The doctor was banned from administering medicines to her son and suspended from practising in November 2018, in part for prescribing to the boy whose conditions included level three autism and avoidant restrictive food intake disorders.
The courts heard the medicines, which were not named, were not recommended for children his age and “had the potentiality for significant untreatable side effects”.
In February this year, the boy, then weighing 35kg, was admitted to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital after refusing to eat or drink for 24 hours.
