She suffered internal bleeding in her pelvis, had to undergo an urgent operation to remove her right fallopian tube and developed an adjustment disorder which lasted three to four months.
£14,400 for a 30-year-old Woman for the Failure by the Defendant to Diagnose Her Ectopic Pregnancy Prior to Its Rupture in September 2010
The day after having received a positive pregnancy test, the claimant (C) experienced a bleed that was brown in colour. She, therefore, attended a walk-in clinic of the defendant trust. This was her second pregnancy. At the clinic, C was seen by a nurse. The nurse spoke to the Early Pregnancy Unit, and C was advised to keep an eye on the bleeding and to seek medical help again if the blood became red in colour. Another pregnancy test was carried out by the nurse, which was confirmed as faintly positive.
After a few days, C saw her GP, as the bleeding continued and GP referred her to hospital for an abdominal scan. The next day, at hospital, it was thought that C had suffered a miscarriage. A scan was carried out one week later and, a few days later, C was informed by a doctor that she had miscarried. She was told to carry out a pregnancy test in three weeks' time to confirm the miscarriage.
After another week, C collapsed atwork when she suddenly experienced a sharp pain. An ambulance took her to the emergency department where she was diagnosed with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and internal bleeding in her pelvis. C needed urgent surgery to remove her right fallopian tube. She also developed an adjustment disorder which lasted three to four months.
Had diagnosis taken place earlier, C could have had drug treatment to manage her ectopic pregnancy and, therefore, would have avoided the need for surgery and the loss of her fallopian tube.