Abortion horror
Published:Sunday | March 6, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
A Jamaican couple has filed a lawsuit against the self-styled baby-friendly public hospital, Princess Margaret, in St Thomas, for allegedly terminating the wife's four-month pregnancy without warning in late January.
An attorney from one of the country's prominent law firms has been retained to represent the couple - Uton and Michelle Josephs - in the legal proceedings. The attorney, who requested anonymity, claims that the doctor apologised to Mrs Josephs after the baby was aborted.
The Sunday Gleaner also understands that when Mr Josephs, 28, recognised what was happening to his 26-year-old wife and questioned the doctor, reportedly puzzingly, the physician asked if Mrs Josephs had not "come in for an abortion".
The Josephs, residents of Seaforth, St Thomas, have been married for a year and a half.
It is reported that the expectant mother went to the hospital because she was feeling pain and was attended by nurses before the doctor came in and examined her. It is alleged that after the intervention of the nurses, the patient was feeling better, but the couple has alleged that an abortion was done after the doctor's intervention.
The hospital, however, vehemently denies the claims made by the Josephs.
When our news team visited the St Thomas-based health institution on Friday, Sherine Smith, acting chief executive officer of the hospital, refused to discuss the issue.
"I have no comment to make on that. It is a legal matter, and whether or not it is a legal matter I can't speak to the media (about it)," she said. Asked if the implicated doctor had been removed from duty, Smith would not change her position. "No comment," was all she offered.
However, Dr Cecil Batchelor, senior medical officer (SMO) at the Princess Margaret
Hospital, confirmed that the patient lodged a complaint, and that last week, the couple's lawyer had requested copies of the medical records.
The SMO said that the doctor in question told Mrs Josephs that he was sorry for her loss. But Batchelor revealed that the doctor in question is Indian, and there might have been a breakdown in communication when the patient's condition was being discussed because of the doctor's accent.
Batchelor denied that the doctor performed an induced abortion.
"We are basically refuting the allegation the patient has made. We think that there has been a misunderstanding on the part of the patient because doctors don't generally abort babies in public hospitals," he explained.
The SMO also revealed that he, along with the hospital's head of gynaecology, sat with the patient and discussed the matter.
"She thought that she was unfairly handled in the hospital and that one of the doctors was instrumental in her losing her baby," the doctor said.
Batchelor added: "As far as we are concerned, she came and was losing the baby. It was a high-risk pregnancy and a precious baby; it was a baby she wanted. The baby was already on the way out when she came in."
Despite the hospital's stance, the Josephs' attorney believes they have a good case "They have an excellent case. It's a done deal. I just wrote to the hospital and asked for the medical records," the lawyer said.
The attorney said her client was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and has had to see a psychiatrist to cope with the ordeal.
The confident counsel said she did not think the attorney general would fight the case. "I think the Government will settle the matter. The evidence is overwhelming," she said. "The facts send chills up your body. It's gruesome, especially from a woman's perspective."
However, Batchelor told The Sunday Gleaner that the hospital would fight the lawsuit.
"Cases like this, we get every week. People come in and lose babies. Fifty-six per cent of pregnancies are lost spontaneously before they reach anywhere," the doctor said.
Furthermore, he argued, induced abortions like what the Josephs are claiming are against the law. "That is a Ministry of Health policy: no induced abortions. We take care of the patients who have had it done outside, or naturally, so that they can get back their health," Batchelor said.