The TSJ condemns the Ministry of Health for not alerting some parents that their son suffered from spina bifida
The Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) has recognized the right of some parents, residents of Cartagena, to be compensated with 310,000 euros by the Ministry of Health for not detecting the serious malformations of their baby during the period of gestation.
In 2016, the 29-year-old mother underwent a pregnancy test at her Molinos Marfagones health center with a positive result. She was the second child for this marriage. According to the resolution, the woman was referred for control and follow-up to the Fetal Medicine consultation in the outpatient clinic itself and the obstetric follow-up of the pregnancy was left in the hands of the Santa Lucía hospital in Cartagena.
The court acknowledges that the mother’s obesity complicated the tasks, but understands that the problem could have been detected
The parents, in their lawsuit, argued that in each and every one of the consultations carried out, after the fetal ultrasound studies, they were informed that the child “comes small” but within normal limits, “nothing worrisome”. In the delivery room, however, it was detected that the child suffered from spina bifida, an anomaly of which they had not been warned. The newborn was referred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (ICU), from which he was transferred to the Virgen de la Arrixaca hospital in Murcia to undergo surgery.
The plaintiffs requested compensation of up to 600,000 euros
The family, who claimed compensation of up to 600,000 euros, argued in their lawsuit that “the fetal malformation was visible and diagnosable.” The lawyer of the Community argued, for his part, that there was no causal relationship between the health action and the damage suffered, since “the action of the health administration, both diagnostic and therapeutic, has been totally correct without evidence of malpractice ». This part also explained that the obesity suffered by the mother added difficulty in detecting pathologies and was a risk factor for pregnancy.
The court ensures that it cannot ignore “that the obesity of the pregnant woman, in addition to making it difficult to carry out the ultrasound study, is a risk factor for serious malformations.” He remarks, however, that “the spina bifida diagnosed in the son of the actors was not hidden but open” and understands that “the malformation of the fetus could have been detected”. In this way, the TSJ accepts the parents’ demand and orders that they be compensated in 310,000 euros. The resolution can still be appealed before the Supreme Court.
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