2023-09-23 15:44:57
A Warwick couple is suing a Victoriaville obstetrician-gynecologist for $950,000 who they consider to be responsible for the death of their child, who died eight days following giving birth.
“I consider that he is responsible for the medical problems [de l’enfant] and his death. If he had acted according to the rules of the art, [l’enfant] would have been born alive and probably without following-effects,” alleges the request for obstetrics expertise regarding the doctor who performed nearly 7,000 deliveries during his 36 years of practice.
monvicto.com has obtained a copy of this document.
“In these circumstances, the parents are entitled to claim that the obstetrician-gynecologist is responsible for the death of the child,” we can read in the application instituting proceedings which was filed at the Victoriaville courthouse on 25 last July.
The baby was born on July 29, 2020 at Hôtel-Dieu in Arthabaska, but died on August 6 following being resuscitated and transferred to Fleurimont Hospital in Sherbrooke.
Careless childbirth
The birth of the couple’s third child was difficult as the labor lasted 12 hours.
“After carrying out an amniotomy (rupture of the membranes), the obstetrician-gynecologist decided to accelerate the mother’s labor by prescribing an infusion of Syntocinon, despite the presence of uterine contraction […]. The rapid increase in Syntocinon infusion caused uterine tachysystole,” reads the request for obstetric expertise.
“This had the effect of preventing the child from recovering following each of the uterine contractions. Although the fetal monitoring trace showed signs of suffering, the doctor took no action to improve his patient’s clinical situation. A prudent and diligent obstetrician-gynecologist would have acted differently and the child would not have suffered the following-effects of his prolonged hypoxia.”
The request for expertise specifies that it was this prolonged hypoxia which led to the death of the baby a few days later.
Other errors were also highlighted in the request for expertise.
Post-traumatic symptoms
Following the death of her child, the court document states that the mother “experienced post-traumatic symptoms, including, but not limited to, anxiety, irritability and difficulty sleeping.” .
She also needed psychological follow-up, including 27 meetings between 2020 and August 2021 in addition to suffering from anxiety-depressive symptoms.
The father also needed psychological follow-up following the death of the child, which spanned around fifteen meetings from August 2020 to January 2021.
No disciplinary record
Although the obstetrician-gynecologist has been retired since the summer of 2021, the management of the CIUSSS MCQ has suggested that “considering the legal proceedings in progress, we will not comment on the reported situation”.
According to the College of Physicians, he has no disciplinary file concerning him.
1695484875
#Child #died #days #delivery
