Qld: 200k for botched sterilisation=2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-2000
Qld: 200k for botched sterilisation=2

Dr Cattanach, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, was sued for "wrongful conception".

At dispute were the contents of the conversations between doctor and patient prior
to the operation and what steps if any Dr Cattanach ought to have taken to confirm the
success of the sterilisation operation or give further warning to Mrs Melchior.

When Mrs Melchior was 15 she had an appendectomy and during the course of that operation
her right ovary was found to be filed with a blood clot and removed.

Dr Cattanach, when he saw Mrs Melchior, said he couldn't discern a right ovary or right
fallopian tube, which was consistent with the history she presented.

However, a dye test held since, revealed there was a right fallopian tube present,
obscured by bowel adhesions which were almost certainly the product of the 1967 surgery.

Dr Cattanach was unaware of its existence and applied a clip to the left fallopian
tube but without performing a dye test.

Supreme Court Justice Cate Holmes awarded a total of $212,000 to Mrs Melchior in compensation
for pain and suffering, special damages and for past and future care of Jordan.

Justice Holmes, in her written judgment handed down today, found the doctor was negligent
in failing to adequately inform Mrs Melchior of the possibility that the procedure would
fail to be effective because of the possibility of the continuing existence of the right
fallopian tube.

"That negligence was a material cause of her pregnancy and the birth of Jordan," she found.

Medical experts believe that Mrs Melchior conceived by "transmigration" of an ovum
from the left ovary to the right fallopian tube.

Mrs Melchior suffered health problems directly after the birth involving a clot in
her left leg and in the pulmonary veins.

"I consider Mrs Melchior's health was significantly adversely affected by the pregnancy
and birth, although those effects ... have largely disappeared," Justice Holmes said.

Justice Holmes concluded that Dr Cattanach was under a duty to avoid the physical harm
to Mrs Melchior occasioned by Jordan's conception and birth.

Queensland Health director-general Dr Robert Stable said the Supreme Court's decision
would be studied to determine whether an appeal would be launched.

AAP smk/sc/cd y

KEYWORD: STERILE 2 BRISBANE

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.