A woman who had a sterilisation operation after being advised another pregnancy could put her life at risk later became pregnant with her sixth child. A vaginal dilator was also left inside her after the procedure, resulting in severe pain and infections, the High Court has been told.
Theresa Tobin (41) has endured "a life of misery" since the operation and continues to suffer from back pain and stress, the court was told yesterday. She has great difficulty coping with her six children and is unable to have sexual relations with her husband, it was claimed.
Ms Tobin and her husband Patrick (44), Rossmore, Clonakilty, have brought an action for damages arising from the sterilisation carried out on her at the Erinville maternity hospital, Western Road, Cork, on August 10th, 1999.
The action is against the Southern Health Board, Dr Vincent Fenton, a consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist, Dr Ashraf Aziz, then a locum registrar at the Erinville hospital, and Dr Yahya Kamal.
The defendants have admitted liability subject to a plea of contributory negligence. They plead Ms Tobin failed to take measures to avoid pregnancy following the sterilisation procedure. The case opened yesterday before Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan and is expected to last two weeks.
Henry Hickey SC, with Dr John O'Mahony SC, for the Tobins, said Ms Tobin had a history of thrombosis and had a pulmonary embolism in 1996. She developed deep vein thrombosis in 1998 when she was pregnant with her fifth child and was advised by Dr Fenton that there was a serious risk to her life and health if she became pregnant again. She was advised to have a sterilisation after her fifth child was born.
She went into Erinville hospital on August 9th, 1999, where she learned the procedure would not be carried out by Dr Fenton, but by Dr Aziz and Dr Kamal. She had been assured she would be Dr Fenton's patient, Mr Hickey said.
The sterilisation was carried out on August 10th and Ms Tobin was discharged the next day. She was experiencing a lot of lower back pain, which worsened and turned out to be due to a cervical dilator having been left inside her vaginal vault. Eventually, on August 13th, Ms Tobin passed the dilator while in the toilet.
She was shocked and alarmed and consulted her doctor who told her to return to the Erinville. Dr Fenton told her he was sorry about what had happened with the dilator but he believed all had gone well with the sterilisation.
Ms Tobin was later moved to Cork University Hospital at her own request and was found to have spasm in her lower spine.
She had severe backache, vaginal bleeding and she found it difficult to pass urine. She was diagnosed with acute stress syndrome. Her pain continued and she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. A consultant later concluded she had a septic condition.
Mr Hickey said Ms Tobin was upset and distressed. She had never regained full health. In November 2000 she was devastated when she found she was pregnant. She had a difficult pregnancy and was very stressed and terrified at the prosect of again having to deal with hospitals and doctors.
Her sixth child, Mark, was safely delivered by Caesarean section at 38 weeks in July 2001.
Relations between Ms Tobin and her husband were even more affected as a result of the pregnancy, the court was told. He had a vasectomy in 2003 to relieve her anxiety but she remained unable to have marital relations. Mr Hickey said the couple's sex life was nil.
In evidence, Ms Tobin said she believed the bad pain was due to the pain people experienced after surgery. Three days later she was in the toilet and experienced such severe pain her children heard her scream. She then passed an object which was the dilator.
"I could not believe what I was seeing, it reminded me of a spanner that my husband had in the garage," she said.
