A doctor who remains adamant she’s not txjmtzywo blame for a woman falling pregnant has lost her appeal after a court found operator error during a contraceptive procedure caused the unwanted pregnancy.
Dr Nita Dhupar was ordered to pay $408,700 in damages to the woman in 2020 after a NSW District Court Judge found she was liable for the woman’s unwanted pregnancy.
The woman sued Dr Dhupar after she fell pregnant in May 2015, nine months after Dr Dhupar performed a procedure known as a laparoscopic tubal ligation on the woman’s fallopian tubes.
The procedure, which involved applying two Filshie clips to each fallopian tube, was meant to stop the woman from becoming pregnant.
Judge Leonard Levy found Dr Dhupar did not fit one of the clips properly and was negligent in her duty of care to the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
According to court documents, Dr Dhupar maintained she had done nothing wrong, claiming there was “clearly a failure rate” with the procedure and the woman was warned about it.
After appealing Judge Levy’s findings, Dr Dhupar took a case to the NSW Court of Appeal which heard that while there was “no doubt” pregnancy could occur after the procedure was done, without negligence, the failure rate was 0.3 per cent.
“The alternative explanation … is rendered highly improbable by the relatively short time between operation and pregnancy,” Justice Paul Brereton said.
The court heard that usually natural problems which could have occurred and allowed the woman to become pregnant would have “typically” happened at least 10-12 months after the procedure.
“As to liability, the mere fact of failure, occurring as early as it did, was suggestive of operator error in application of the clip,” Justice Brereton said.
Dr Dhupar’s appeal was dismissed and she must pay the woman $261,000 for non-economic loss, $45,000 for past economic loss, $80,000 for future loss of earning capacity, $15,000 for future treatment expenses and $7,700 for past out-of-pocket expenses.
The unplanned pregnancy left the woman suffering major depressive disorder, decreased libido, social isolation, panic attacks and weight gain.
