Woman Sues Doctor For Not Diagnosing Her Pregnancy

[Noomi]

She wants money for the costs of raising her child. She discovered she was pregnant after going to see her doctor four times. The doc said she had an ear infection, but when she had an ultrasound, she found she was 29 weeks pregnant.
Of course, she saw dollar signs and went after the doc, not only for being liable for failing to diagose the pregnancy, but also for costs of raising the child:

The woman, now 25, had only two months to prepare for the birth of her child despite visiting her doctor four times in 2009.

“I was pretty distressed,” the woman told the Herald Sun.

“When the ultrasound guy said, ‘Congratulations, you’re 29 weeks pregnant’, I just completely flipped out. I only had two months to work out what I was going to do, how I was going to look after him.”

The woman has taken action against Dr Ruth Mitchell for failing to realise she was pregnant.

The damages claim includes cover for medical expenses and the cost of raising the child.

But despite her ordeal, the woman said her three-year-old son had been a “charming” gift.

Doctor 'mistakes pregnancy for ear problem'

I can't stand it when women sue for reasons like this. Is she saying that if she had known sooner, she would have had an abortion?
If she found out sooner, would she have had more money?
Mistakes happen. Some women don't find out they are pregnant until they are in their third trimester. I think she should drop her legal action, there is no reason for it.

 

[AmyNation]

Hmmm.....


Wouldn't she have to prove some incompetence on the part of the doctor? When you visit your GP they don't run a pregnancy test unless they have cause.

I don't think she has a case.

 

[Noomi]

Neither do I. And the lawyers say that a urine test to detect pregnancy was negative.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

A statement from the woman’s lawyers, Slater & Gordon, alleges the initial urine test to prove the women was pregnant was negative.

The woman claims Dr Mitchell failed on three more occasions to send the her for a blood test which would have confirmed her pregnancy.

The claim also alleged that the woman missed periods, suffered nausea and dizziness but Dr Mitchell diagnosed the woman with an inner-ear condition and prescribed her with anti-nausea medication.

The mother did a home pregnancy test when she noticed that she was putting on weight.

That would be in interesting aspect of the case to explore, where missed periods would lead one to suspect an inner ear infection.

And wouldn’t the threes symptoms taken together at least be cause for a doctor to pursue more comprehensive and conclusive testing for pregnancy?

She has a case, which she might likely win.

 

[Connery]

A statement from the woman’s lawyers, Slater & Gordon, alleges the initial urine test to prove the women was pregnant was negative.

The woman claims Dr Mitchell failed on three more occasions to send the her for a blood test which would have confirmed her pregnancy.

The claim also alleged that the woman missed periods, suffered nausea and dizziness but Dr Mitchell diagnosed the woman with an inner-ear condition and prescribed her with anti-nausea medication.

The mother did a home pregnancy test when she noticed that she was putting on weight.

That would be in interesting aspect of the case to explore, where missed periods would lead one to suspect an inner ear infection. Unless she was diagnosed with Meniere's disease which may impact the menstrual cycle, at which point I would need to see which tests were performed.

And wouldn’t the threes symptoms taken together at least be cause for a doctor to pursue more comprehensive and conclusive testing for pregnancy?

She has a case, which she might likely win.

I agree. The doctor has an array of tests which could have should have been conducted regarding this women who was of child bearing age. The doctor could also have referred the woman out to a specialist. A question I would like to ask the doctor is how does an ear infection impact the menstrual cycle.