Woman files medical negligence claim after losing fertility

The Hall of Justice. - File photo

A woman who was left unable to have children after undergoing surgery at the San Fernando General Hospital has filed a lawsuit alleging medical negligence.

Late last year, attorneys for the woman filed legal proceedings against the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA), which manages the hospital.

According to the lawsuit, the woman underwent surgery in 2012 to remove her right fallopian tube. In mid-October 2019, she returned to the hospital suffering from severe abdominal pain. After tests were conducted, she was diagnosed with a corneal/interstitial ectopic pregnancy and was advised that her left fallopian tube had to be removed or she could die.

Her attorneys, Edwin and Shawn Roopnarine, said the woman was not given full information and was left with the impression that her only options were surgery or death. They claim she signed a consent form outlining possible complications, including the inability to have future pregnancies, without being properly advised of alternative treatments.

“The claimant, without full information and dependent on the defendant’s servants and/or agents, was left under the impression that her only two choices were between the said surgery or death, signed a consent form which outlined that some of the complications or effects that could or may occur including the fact that she would be unable to have any future pregnancies. If offered an option (other than death), the claimant would have opted to save her fallopian tube.”

The lawsuit further alleges that histopathology tests carried out after the surgery showed there was no recent pregnancy in the removed left fallopian tube and that it was not ruptured, contradicting the initial diagnosis.

The woman is contending that the hospital’s doctors were negligent in misdiagnosing her condition and in failing to obtain her informed consent. Her attorneys said doctors did not discuss or offer alternative procedures, such as a salpingostomy, which could have preserved her fertility.

They also alleged that the surgeon failed to identify an ectopic pregnancy properly and negligently removed a healthy fallopian tube.

As a result of the surgery, the woman claims she has suffered significant mental and emotional distress, including strain on her marriage, as she and her husband wished to have more children.

She is seeking damages for pain and suffering, as well as between $100,000 and $300,000 to cover the estimated cost of future in-vitro fertilisation treatment.

The woman’s attorneys alleged,” The claimant contends that she was not provided with relevant information to make a balanced decision and was denied informed consent as to the options for surgery and that the defendant’s servants and/or agents negligently removed her remaining and normal fallopian tube, mistaking it for an ectopic tube with an unruptured ectopic pregnancy.

“The claimant suffered great mental and emotional suffering and distress and which led to discord and disharmony in her marriage as the claimant and her husband desired further children.”