Mother who died from anorexia spent $500 a week on laxatives
An inquest has heard a young Adelaide mother who died of anorexia swallowed more than a year's worth of laxatives every day.
But the pharmacist in charge of the chemist she bought them from has denied ever approving the bulk sale of tablets to her.
Claudia La Bella bought dozens of packets of Dulcolax tablets every week at a cost of $500.
She said she had terminal cancer, but that was not the truth.
She died of anorexia, weighing just 35 kg at the time of her death.
On Thursday Carolyn Tan, the pharmacist at Chemist King in Hectorville, denied knowing or meeting her, or even being made aware of her regular bulk purchases.
Earlier the pharmacy's retail manager said Mrs La Bella was well known to all staff and was using the laxatives as part of her "cancer" treatment.
"We all thought she had an eating disorder, until she told us she had breast or ovarian cancer and that seemed like a valid reason," Jessica Cutting said.
Ms Cutting disputed having to meet sales targets, but when it was suggested "these regular sales of hundreds of dollars were keeping your bosses happy," she said "yes".
The Coroner was told Mrs La Bella had consumed 400 times the recommended daily dose of the tablet.
