Saturday, July 10, 2004
By their fruits you shall know them
In the NSW Supreme Court on 8 April 2004 Justice Michael Grove ruled that the brain damage of a Sydney girl, Kristy Bruce, a result of her mother's uterine rupture -- was probably caused by a previous abortion. Consequently the girl lost her claim against her mother's obstetrician, Dr. Alan Kaye, for negligence.
Kristy, who is now 15, was born with cerebral palsy. She is confined to a wheelchair and cannot speak. Kristy's mother, Sharon Chevelle, gave birth to the girl at the Royal Hospital for Women, in Sydney's east, on March 21, 1989. Her family sued Dr. Kaye for more than $750,000 for malpractice, claiming he miscalculated her mother's expected due date. As a result, the family claimed, Kristy was born between two-and-a-half and six weeks overdue, causing the placenta to deteriorate, a condition known as "placental insufficiency."
However, the Justice Grove rejected the claim, noting that the after-effect of the mother's abortion was a more likely cause for Kristy's injuries. In his judgement Grove said " .....As Dr. Lyneham (an expert witness) pointed out, the weakness [in the uterine wall] could have been a consequence of a complication in one of Ms. Chevelle's previous abortions or a procedure by dilatation and curettage to remove an intrautrine contraceptive device [such as had been implanted by Dr. Munro after the birth of a previous child]. As Dr. Lyneham comments, it is entirely feasible that at one of these procedures there was an inadvertent perforation of the posterior uterine wall, which at the time did not result in any clinical manifestation. As a matter of hindsight, considerable suspicion must be directed to the very recent termination which Ms. Chevelle underwent just prior to becomeing pregnant with the plaintiff..... As stated a conclusion cannot be reached othr than that there was nothing to suggest that thre was any relevant matter of which the defendant ought to have been aware and reacted to......”
Kristy, who is now 15, was born with cerebral palsy. She is confined to a wheelchair and cannot speak. Kristy's mother, Sharon Chevelle, gave birth to the girl at the Royal Hospital for Women, in Sydney's east, on March 21, 1989. Her family sued Dr. Kaye for more than $750,000 for malpractice, claiming he miscalculated her mother's expected due date. As a result, the family claimed, Kristy was born between two-and-a-half and six weeks overdue, causing the placenta to deteriorate, a condition known as "placental insufficiency."
However, the Justice Grove rejected the claim, noting that the after-effect of the mother's abortion was a more likely cause for Kristy's injuries. In his judgement Grove said " .....As Dr. Lyneham (an expert witness) pointed out, the weakness [in the uterine wall] could have been a consequence of a complication in one of Ms. Chevelle's previous abortions or a procedure by dilatation and curettage to remove an intrautrine contraceptive device [such as had been implanted by Dr. Munro after the birth of a previous child]. As Dr. Lyneham comments, it is entirely feasible that at one of these procedures there was an inadvertent perforation of the posterior uterine wall, which at the time did not result in any clinical manifestation. As a matter of hindsight, considerable suspicion must be directed to the very recent termination which Ms. Chevelle underwent just prior to becomeing pregnant with the plaintiff..... As stated a conclusion cannot be reached othr than that there was nothing to suggest that thre was any relevant matter of which the defendant ought to have been aware and reacted to......”
