The first defendant, Dr Curtis, then a locum general practitioner, failed to warn the claimant, Miss Wyatt, who presented with chickenpox, about the consequent risk to her unborn child. It was admitted at trial that this had been negligent. It was accepted also that the child was born with serious abnormalities caused by the chickenpox. What was not admitted was that, had she been warned by Dr Curtis, Miss Wyatt would have sought and obtained a termination of her pregnancy, which was then in its fourteenth week.
Sedley LJ commented that there was something unreal about placing the onus of asking upon a patient who may not know that there is anything to ask about.
Judges:
Schiemann, Sedley, Kay LJJ
Citations:
[2003] EWCA Civ 1779
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board SC 11-Mar-2015
Change in Doctors’ Information Obligations
The pursuer claimed that her obstetrician had been negligent, after her son suffered severe injury at birth. The baby faced a birth with shoulder dystocia – the inability of the shoulders to pass through the pelvis. The consultant considered that a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Professional Negligence
Updated: 08 June 2022; Ref: scu.188725
