Fully accept the point about unplanned pregnancies but I don't think they yet amount to 67 per cent of all pregnancies so there is still scope for improvement!
Aitchtwooh, I'm afraid the conclusion of the experts (senior doctors) consulted by both sides was that, in the circumstances, the GP was in fact culpable for not recommending folic acid to a woman who went to see him specifically about trying for another baby.
I'm not an expert but, to use my earlier house-sale analogy, it must be at least the equivalent of a lawyer failing to do the proper seaches.
Of course, in most cases, they would get away with it because there would be no problem.
But, when you next by a house and it turns out that there is subsidence or they are just about to start work on a new sewage works next door, I bet you won't be thinking: "well, i could sue the lawyer but I won't because bad things sometimes happen to good people."
Seriously, I recognise that professionals are often advised not to apologise because it might be seen as an admission of guilt and that seems a bit of a flaw in our legal system.
Incidentally, the comment by the BMA spokesman also strikes me as pretty unhelpful and rather daft as it quite obviously goes against good practice - it certainly is the duty of a doctor to recommend folic acid to a woman who asks him for advice about getting pregnant.