Disabled woman suing her mother’s GP for her disability?

[Soontobe60]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spina-bifida-showjumper-evie-toombes-sues-mother-s-gp-over-her-birth-rl66gfmf6?shareToken=0af8f83fcc15890f81a4133dc106ea20
In today’s Times, the article above is about a woman who was born with Spina bifida that has sued her mother’s GP for her condition, claiming that it’s his fault. She claims that he did not correctly advise her mother about taking folic acid supplements before conceiving, and this has resulted in her being born with the condition. This feels wrong to me. The mother claims the GP told her folic acid wasn’t needed if she had a balanced diet, the denied saying it wasn’t necessary.
I had my youngest child 26 years ago. I knew all about taking folic acid supplements before I started trying to conceive, it’s not like it was a new thing.

How can they possibly prove whether the GP advised her to take folic acid 26 years ago? And how can they prove that she didn't take it or that the child wouldn't have been born with SB regardless? Ridiculous that this case even exists.

I think it's a sign of the times. People seem.to need someone to blame and can't accept sometimes things happen.

Awful. It’s up to mothers to do their own research on whether they need supplements or not.

I thought folic acid was widely known by then as well.

The need to take folic acid has been widely known for at least 35 years. I don't understand why the mother just didn't take it and why this has become a legal case.

Ridiculous we now have an American blame, sue and compensation culture.

@BleuJay

Awful. It’s up to mothers to do their own research on whether they need supplements or not.

But if she asked her GP then she did do her research. IMO the question is more what the GP actually said, whether it can be proved & whether they can be sued for what they said. The GP has already admitted they may have said supplements were "less important" if the mum had a good diet.

Interestingly the angle the daughter has gone for is she wouldn't have been born if her mum was told to take supplements before getting pregnant because then her mum would have waited to get pregnant. So sounds like the point is different egg/sperm - maybe to dodge the reality that folic acid lowers the risk of spina bifida but doesn't come close to removing it?

Wasn’t there a German guy who tried to sue his parents for bringing him into the world without his consent?
Ridiculous

There are too many variables - who can know if folic acid would have made any difference to her condition? It makes an assumption that she would have been born 'able bodied and healthy' but no one can ever know this.

I knew about taking folic acid 40 years ago - no doctor had to tell me, it was commonly known . This case is ridiculous.

God who would want to be a GP?

We have a horrible blame culture. There is always an assumption of "insurance will cover it", but what they don't realise is that putting in a silly claim against an individual health professional absolutely takes over their lives and probably destroys their career for as long as the case is investigated and beyond.

I feel sorry for that GP. It was well publicised to take folic acid prior to and during the first semester 20 odd years ago.

I'm really surprised this is going to court. It seems such a reach and impossible to win.

@BurnedToast

I thought folic acid was widely known by then as well.

Folic acid was known about in the early 1970s!! My mum took it when she was pregnant with me.

I started taking folic acid before getting pregnant with my now 31 year old son and I knew without being told by my GP. I hope this is thrown out of court, I can’t believe it got this far. It must make other disabled people feel awful too as she is basically saying that her life is worth less because of her disability ☹️

My eldest is almost 28 and I was told by both GP and midwife
I knew to take it before TTC anyway.
Although it can help guard against Neural Tube defects Nothing is guaranteed and she may have been born with it anyway.
There's too much " where there's a blame, there's a claim" nowadays
Parents now sue for my disability too( Cerebral Palsy) despite no definitive proof that damage occurred during birth.

I wonder if there is a sense of shame with the mother, who may have brought her daughter up to believe that her disability was a result of an external factor (GP) rather than as a consequence of her own actions. If the daughter has always believed this, then she may lash out at the person she deems at fault.

I'm not blaming mothers for spina bifida at all BTW. I'm just trying to work through the cognitive dissonance that may have occurred to get to this point.

My friend took folic acid and her older child has spina bifida. It happens.

@drspouse

My friend took folic acid and her older child has spina bifida. It happens.

Same here. (Me, not a friend!)

Spina Bifida is multi-factorial and there's absolutely no way of saying what has caused any individual case.

My DS has SB and I took folic acid - in my second pregnancy I was prescribed a higher dose and it was recommended that women in the family did the same.

(Second child has an array of different congenital stuff going on but her neural tube is in tip top shape as far as we know.)

Even if you take folic acid at the higher dose it doesn't stop you having a SB affected baby.

I never took folic acid and have 3 perfectly healthy children. There’s things you can reduce the risk but it’s still the luck of the draw. She has no way of proving what the doctor advised, or whether there would be a different outcome. It’s ridiculous

"The barrister told the court that had Toombes’s mother delayed pregnancy, she would have had a “normal, healthy” baby but one who was a “genetically different person”."

No one can know with certainty a different conception would have resulted in a baby without any issues at all
It's same risks each time of things going "wrong"
It could have had different condition

How has it got this far and who is funding what seems to be such a weak case?

Feel so sorry for this GP being asked to defend himself on a 10 min chat he had 20+ years ago. Who would want to be a GP with this lack of personal accountability/ acceptance that things are just bad luck?

I think the guidance is poor in any case. The recommendation is to take folic acid (which needs to be converted by the body into its active form) instead of taking an already active form of folate (which better supplements contain). Some women are not able to convert folic acid as well as others. Where would this factor in the debate?!