A 20-year-old woman from UK had sued her mother's doctor, claiming she should never have been born. On December 1, Evie Toombes won the case and millions in damages.
The star showjumper suffers from spina bifida — a birth defect in which a developing baby's spinal cord fails to develop properly — and sometimes spends 24 hours a day connected to tubes. Evie filed a case against her mother's doctor for “wrongful conception”.
Her claim saw her take Dr Philip Mitchell to court over his failure to advise her mother to take vital supplements before getting pregnant. Evie alleged that had the medic told her mom Caroline that she needed to take folic acid to minimize the risk of spina bifida affecting her baby, she would have put off conception.
This in turn would have meant Evie would never have been born at all.
Evie was diagnosed with a lipomylomeningocoele (LMM), a form of neural tube defect to the spine leading to permanent disability, after her birth in November 2001.
Her mobility is said to be “very limited” and she will depend more and more on a wheelchair as she grows older, while she also suffers from bowel and bladder issues.
Evie's lawyers had earlier said the amount she is claiming had not yet been calculated but confirmed that it would be “big” since it would cover the cost of her extensive care needs for life.
And in a unique ruling at UK’s High Court on December 1, Judge Rosalind Coe QC backed Evie’s case and awarded her the right to a huge compensation payout.
During the ruling, the judge found that Dr Mitchell had not told Caroline of the importance of taking folic acid supplements before getting pregnant. And if she had been told, she would have delayed conceiving and instead had a different, totally healthy, baby, the judge added.
During the trial last month, the court heard that 50-year-old Caroline had gone to see Dr Mitchell to discuss her plans to have a first baby in February 2001.
But despite discussing folic acid during the appointment, Caroline claimed she was not told by Dr Mitchell of its importance in spina bifida prevention.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
