Doctor sued for failing to advice folic acid, baby dies from anencephaly

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Has anyone seen this article that was in this weekend's daily mail? just wondered what your views were on it..

www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=484585&in_page_i d=1&inpageid=1&expand=true#StartComments

quite, edam.

I think they should pass a law which makes the NHS immune from this sort of compensation claim. Instead, they should introduce a proper independent complaints body which would investigate complaints and order changes, but not award compo.

It would save a fortune, and also improve care (eg there would be fewer elective ceasarians, and more openness in the event of a problem).

one day I'll run for parliament.

I know a little about this case and it seems to me that a lot of posters are not reading the story properly or are not getting the point.
This lady went to her doctor specifically because she wanted to try for a new baby - in fact, to have a coil removed and to ask his general advice because it was a few years since her last pregnancy.
He failed to give her probably the most important bit of information he could have given her at that time. There were also other issues (concerning a prescription) but the case was conceded on the folic acid.
The visit to the doctor was in 2000, before many people had access to the internet and the vast amount of information on it.
According to the Mail, even today, only 33% of women take folic acid before conception .
It's a pretty ridiculous argument to say "just because I know about something, everyone else should know it". I bet there's plenty you don't know!
In fact, Mrs Fox did everything right - she went to her doctor and sought his advice, which turned out not to be adequate.
I admit this was a fairly small mistake for the doctor to make but it had devastating consequences.
Mrs Fox could have taken the money and kept quiet but her concern was to warn the 67 per cent of women (obviously not know-everything mumsnet posters) who don't take folic acid prior to conception.

so is she giving the money to charity? to the previous doctors who advised her to take folic acid for her previous pregnancies? i'm sorry for your friend's wee baby, but what happened was terribly unfortunate and while she no doubt blames herself for not taking the FA (that's what mothers do, we blame ourselves for anythign bad happening to our children) there's no reason to go after a doctor who apparently failed to tell her something that she already knew.

Think its important to remember that many negligence cases are about very important things as well- my friend sued the local NHS. Why? because when she went into labour early the MW told her to not be a silly girl and hung up on her, despite that she had previously had a baby at 30 weeks. They refused to check her or admit her. baby was born and died after living for justa short while in mum's arms .

but there's a real causal nexus in that case, peachy. not in this one, i don't think. sorry for your poor friend, by the way. amazing how these midwives are psychic.

But folic acid doesn't come with a cast iron guarantee that your baby will be fine. It merely reduces the risk of NTDs. So she can't prove the lack of advice caused her baby to die.

And I do think you have to take some responsibility yourself - if you are planning a pregnancy, you are perfectly capable of buying a book or two. You don't just think 'Oh, I've been to the doctor, won't bother seeking information anywhere else.'

She had taken folic acid in previous pregnancies - I know she claims she didn't realise it was normal practice but can hardly say she wasn't aware of the benefits.

So I do still object to her bringing this case, tbh. If she wanted to make sure the doctor told everyone else, she could have complained to the surgery or PCT. And if she wanted to raise awareness, she could have contacted a charity.

(And that's from someone who is at greater risk of NTDs... fortunately I haven't been in this lady's appalling postion but I have been through the months of fear that something will be wrong.)

Oh yes I understand that and I know of a far dodgier case of medical negligence payout than the OP (basically- coz frankly i dontc are if old witch gets done LOL- friends Mum claimed massive- six figure- compo and was awarded it fro the death of her Dh from a heart attack whilst in hospital for other easons; what she didnt tell them is she was actually DIVORCED from him, wasn't entitlesd to a thing- didn't give half the kids a penny either- what a Witch!)- it's just so many times these days you hear 'h we have such a compensdation culture {we do, I agree})- they should just stop payouts and make people learn to live with whatever they get..'

With this case my position ahsnt changed from basically MB's- poor women, bastard Lawyers.

bastard lawyers, lazy journalists...

what about personal responsibility?

and according to PP the woman did it to raise awareness, not for compo.

Well, I guess my take on it is people I know who have ended up in psychaitric care after losing a baby- it can have devastating effects on a persons capacity to cope. The Lawyers (and I didnt say all are Bastards! there are Bastard Lawyers out there just as there are bastard anything else!) could be argues to have ahd a duty of care to this lady to protect her from getting embroiled in such a case.

Of course it may well be a case of mum sees big payout and goes for it, but I'd always much rather err on the side of over-nicety in this scenario I think.

i have sympathy for her, but right at this moment i have more sympathy for the poor doctor who got dragged through this. presumably it's been hanging over his head for the last 7 years. not to mention the fact that she could have come to her senses at any point in those last 7 years ad stopped the proceedings. as i say, i'd be a lot more impressed with her case if she'd given the money away.
my wee bro is a paramedic, he says he dreads the day he sees an accident in his off-time. he knows he'll help, and he knows there's every chance it'll fuck up his career.

Jonsax, but this woman did take FA before, and tehrefore surely must have read the leaflats that come with it, advising that you take it, any woman now, not just with special risk factors, before trying to TTC...I had my first child in 1996 (and in Germany FA wasn't advised at the time, no idea if it is now, and we moved to the UK when I was already past 20weeks, so, to late for FA in any case), my 2. child was born in 2002, and I wasn't aware of FA because of the Internet, but because I was asked about it in my first pg...etc...!
I also wonder, if she thought that it was against complications, why she would have thought suddenly those complications don't exist anymore, as you get older and also, from when on she took the FA in her previous pg's.....!
Point is, there is a very large possibility that that little darling would have been born the way she was anyway.
Honestly, I really feel for her, because it must be the worst thing in the world to loose a child.
I just thing it's weird that the FA was the issue, especially as you mention otehr things were an issue anyway...why then make it about FA?

This kind of thing, really really points it out to me WHY I would NEVER return into Nursing practice...you are just to vulnurable (and to those that follow my other thread about UNi, I do realise that Social Work and OT also do carry certian risks...)

jonsax, so what is it that she is doing to raise awareness of the necessity of FA?

i bet this charity could do with £30 grand.

But what good will the money do?

Can they 100% confirm that the reason for her loss was the fact that she did not take FA.

She could raise awareness in any number of ways.

My cousin lost her baby due to failings of the midwives, she was advised to sue but decided against it, the money would not bring her baby back and thats the only thing that would make her situation better.

At the end of the day the, the money has to come from somewhere and probably from the NHS pot, which means less money to treat other people.

link to an interesting aims article about folic acid

Hmm. Her disclaimer about epilepsy is bizarre - you are recommended to take high dose folic acid while TTC and in the first trimester. So she could be sending out completely the wrong message.

so in essence, does this case not therefore prove that folic acid absolutely prevents nerual tube defects.. the fact that there is a causal link between not taking it and a baby with anencephaly...

i am a bit

if folic acid was guaranteed 100 % ( or 99.99 % ) to prevent neural tube defects, then surely i t would be in more foods as an added nutrient , rather than relying on women to take it, remember to take it and take it whilst TTC

if it was that much of a sure fire guarantee then it would be hyped up too much for anyone to miss it

am at this grasping compensation culture

she has lost her baby which is devastating, and terrible.

but the money ? it is not like it can bring her baby back or she needs it to adapt her house for the benefit of a child with special needs

and the poor doctor

will doctors be sued now when contraception fails ?

lot to be said for taking responsibility and for accepting that sometimes, bad things happen, for a reason or no reason and you cannot always blame someone or soemthing

They tried to add folic acid to foods didn't they, tehre was a huge public outcry.

many many years ago (ie I ws about 19) I went to a talk by the chap who led the research team that discovered the link between folic acid and spina ifida etc. It was quite astounding! Made me vow to never miss a single doese... little did I know that short of taking it intravenously I'd never be able manage a single dose!

Actually it does worry me in this PG- because the Unit has lost my notes and i can't get myself booked in for a scan (MW says she has sent them). I don't want the tests for Downs etc, fortunately as they'd be due next week, but if the baby had something like anencephaly (god forbid) i'd like to know now rather than further on, iyswim.

must have missed that peachy,,,

crapola of your unit

edam, she is just saying that you have to seek proffessional advice, not that women shouldn't take it when suffering with epilepsy

I've read the comments since my last post with interest. For clarification, the lady is not a friend but I know just a little more about the case than was in the Mail story.
I also feel a bit sorry for the GP but, in this case, he gave an inadequate service (though I expect many other GPs have got away with similar omissions).
An early apology or acknowledgement might well have ended the case but none was forthcoming and the GP made a statement that his lawyers decided was best not subjected to cross examination in front of a judge.
Professionals are responsible (and insured) for the advice they give (or don't give) and, while I tend to agree we have become too litigious, I can't imagine that most of you would refrain from suing your "poor, harassed" lawyers or accountants if they gave you bad advice over, say, a house sale.
In any case, the GP has continued to earn his six-figure salary while Mrs Fox had to give up a good job because of the very serious psychiatric problems she suffered. Her husband had to give up work to look after her and the other children for a time but they are now back working.
I say this to illustrate that they are not workshy money grabbers and that the £30,000 payout nowhere near covers even the financial loss they suffered.
Of course, there is no absolute proof that taking folic acid would have prevented the anencephaly. But the GP's own side conceded that the chances would have been reduced by more than half and the settlement reflected that.
As for what Mrs Fox is doing, she decided to speak about the case in the hope that the publicity would get the message across to the 67 per cent of women who still don't take folic acid before conception. She did so, bravely in my view, despite knowing how the story might get twisted.
I expect the Mail story has reached a few of them and maybe a family or two will be saved.

Jonsax...that high number that doesn't take folic acid pre conception, I would think, is highly influenced by the amount of "unwated"/unplanned pg's there is...

i really don't think the GP should have to apologise, an apology would mean an admission of culpability and i think it grossly unfair that he be held responsible.

and the reason, presumably, that he earns his 6 figure salary is that he worked hard to follow his career path, i don't grudge him that.

i'm sorry, but i've lost pregnancies, it hurts like fuck, you lose your mind in the process, your career suffers terribly, you lose money hand-over-fist, you want to blame everyone for your pain but at the end of the day you have to draw a line and accept that bad things happen to good people and no-one's to blame.

of course it is, 3andnomore, i totally agree.