A WOMAN WHO gave birth to a baby boy with a fatal illness following a failed sterilisation procedure has been awarded €100,000 in damages from the HSE.
Karen Hurley ha a genetic blood clotting condition which can cause deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and the risks in pregnancy for someone with the condition is much greater than for the general population.
After two successful pregnancies, she decided to have an operation to block her fallopian tubes. However in 2002 she discovered that she was pregnant which judge Justice Ryan said came as a “great shock” to her and her husband. Baby Samuel was born at 34 weeks by Caesarean section with severe physical defects and died at six months of age.
Though the baby’s death was not related to the sterilisation procedure the judge said the whole experience has “left lasting scars” on the boy’s parents.
The judge ruled that Hurley’s gynaecologist Victor Moore and the HSE were negligent in how the sterilisation procedure was carried out.
However the High Court ruled that despite the obvious upset caused to her husband Garrett Ahern, he was not entitled to damages.
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