Woman awarded €855k for botched operation
A WOMAN almost died after a routine procedure to investigate why she could not conceive saw her lose eight pints of blood when an artery and vein were punctured.
Gina Van Amersfoorth, 50, was yesterday awarded €855,000 in damages, 15 years after the procedure at Portlaoise General Hospital.
She had undergone a diagnostic laparoscopy, in which a telescope was inserted into her abdomen to allow examination into the issue of why she had not been able to get pregnant.
But during the procedure, an artery and vein were punctured, leading to serious and significant bleeding.
Ms Van Amersfoorth was told afterwards that she was ‘lucky to be alive’ and Judge Kevin Cross noted that she continues to suffer pain.
American-born Ms Van Amersfoorth suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder which was followed by a depressive disorder, the judge also said.
She went on to give birth to a daughter in 2007 by IVF but she believes that had the 2002 incident not occurred, she would have had at least one other child.
Ms Van Amersfoorth, from Grenville, Portlaoise, had moved to Ireland with her husband in 1999 to set up a furniture sales business and start a family. In 2002, she went to see Dr John Corristine, a consultant gynaecologist at Portlaoise Hospital, as she had failed to conceive.
He suggested a diagnostic laparoscopy, in which dye would be used to check if her tubes were open. During that procedure, she suffered significant bleeding and she was placed on a life support machine for two days, drifting in and out of consciousness, the judge said, before she began to recover.
He said Ms Van Amersfoorth had been told ‘in graphic detail’ that during the emergency, her intestines were put to one side on the operating table, and a medic had to sit on her to control the bleeding.
Judge Cross said Dr Corristine had initially told Ms Van Amersfoorth that the telescope had malfunctioned, ‘and apparently sought to suggest that it was a manufacturing problem’.
‘The plaintiff [Ms Van Amersfoorth] has never been given a proper explanation from the defendants as to what happened or why it occurred,’ he added.
He noted that she did successfully have a daughter in 2007 by IVF, but he said she believed that had the 2002 incident not occurred she would have had at least one other child. He noted the continuing physical pain suffered by Ms Van Amersfoorth, and her contention that the primary reason for an upcoming divorce related to her altered mood and constant pains.
Judge Cross said that full defences were originally entered by both Dr Corristine and the Midland Health Board. But in March 2017, both defendants said that breach of duty was admitted, in causing the telescope to puncture her artery, and they admitted responsibility for her scar and initial pain and suffering. But they disputed the consequences of the abdominal pain, depression and anxiety and consequent lost earnings.
She had argued that her involvement with the family shop was only marginal after 2002, as she was unable to do any physical work and was unable to concentrate.
Judge Cross accepted Ms Van Amersfoorth’s experts’ evidence that she would have to live the rest of her life with constant pain and constant medication, with the probability of resultant psychological illness. He awarded her €300,000 in general damages for pain and suffering, plus €400,000 for loss of earnings, and €155,000 in special damages for medical and other expenses.
Her total award was €855,000.
Lost eight pints of blood