Medical Liability: Your Rights in Case of Mistakes

Questioner

Good morning, I have a question about a, in my opinion, 'mistake' that the sonographer made during the 20-week ultrasound. I will briefly explain the story. I already had 2 healthy children when I became pregnant, am still young and have no strange things in the family. I did not do the NIPT test at 10 weeks, because in principle there is no increased risk, or was, of abnormalities. The 20-week ultrasound was completely fine according to the sonographer. The ultrasound showed that our son had somewhat shorter upper legs, nothing serious, he would not have long legs, it was also found that there was an echodense focus on the heart. This was also not bad, it was often the case and she actually only told us so that she had to write it down, and we could then wonder what that was. Of course we trusted this and did not worry about anything. However, around 31 weeks of pregnancy I had an extra growth ultrasound. On this, the upper legs turned out to be very short, really on the edge. But here too we were told again that there was nothing wrong. But still this did not sit well with me, and I started looking on the internet. To my horror I read that a shortened upper leg in combination with, among other things, an echodense focus, can mean an increased risk of, among other things, trisomy 21. I immediately called the midwife and she confirmed this. This is also in my file. She still offered me a NIPT but also said that this did not make much difference anymore, because I was already too far pregnant to do anything. They also offered me an extra ultrasound, which I had, but it was difficult to look at specific things because our son was already very low. After a terrible week I pulled myself together and at 37 weeks I gave birth to a son on May 14. Nothing was said and I called the pediatrician myself and asked if he thought my son had Down syndrome. He examined him, thought not, but told us that it could only be ruled out with a blood test. He didn't think our son had it. However, without us knowing, he did ask the midwife to pay extra attention during the checks. As a proud new mother, I was told after 2 days that she wanted a blood test because she thought he did have it. This was very hard for me, because I had put it aside because the pediatrician had reassured me. I was in the hospital the next day with my 3-day-old son for a blood test. Here too, the pediatrician thought that our son didn't look like he would have Down's. She thought the suspicion of Down's was very low. After 5 days we got the results. Unfortunately, he has Down's. Now we have all kinds of tests and it turns out that he also has a fairly large hole in his heart. We love our son very much, but we think that the hospital was lax and did not inform us sufficiently with the 20-week ultrasound. Because if I had known then about a possible increased risk, a NIPT would have made sense. Our question is, can we do something with this? Addition: the hospital and the sonographer of the 20-week scan were a different hospital than where I gave birth. I did not want and do not want to go to the hospital where they did the 20-week scan.

Lawyer

The question is whether healthcare providers objectively made a mistake by not offering you an additional and relatively cheap test so that you could have made the right decision for you in a timely manner. Healthcare providers act according to protocols and standards. As soon as a mistake has been demonstrably made, it is possible to have damages compensated. Not via a disciplinary committee but simply a civil court. You need a specialist office/lawyer.

Lawyer

The question you are raising is whether the sonographer can be held liable for a medical professional error. A professional error can occur, among other things, if you were insufficiently informed about the existing medical risks and that you could have come to a different decision on that basis. The way you describe it, it seems that the sonographer should have advised to have an additional examination done based on the findings in the 20 weeks. Whether this is actually the case will have to be deduced from treatment protocols. Liability claims for medical errors are usually not an easy procedure. First, medical information must be requested from the treating sector. This must be interpreted by your own medical advisor (via your lawyer). The next question is what damage you are suffering and will continue to suffer. This may include the additional healthcare costs you have and compensation for pain and suffering. The discussion will usually be entered into with the professional liability insurer of the medical practitioner. I advise you to hire a specialized personal injury lawyer who is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (LSA). Many personal injury lawyers offer a low-threshold feasibility study. As soon as liability is established or more or less acknowledged, the liable party (or their insurer) will have to reimburse you for the costs of that lawyer.