Woman from Vaud sues doctor
Son born with deformities – due to acne medication
Because of an acne medication, a young woman from the canton of Vaud gave birth to a child with deformities. She didn’t know that she wasn’t allowed to get pregnant, says the woman. But the federal court doesn’t believe her.
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A woman from the canton of Vaud was taking medication for acne and shouldn’t have gotten pregnant because of it. (icon picture)
Because of her acne, a young woman from the canton of Vaud went to her family doctor in 2002 and was then prescribed the drug Roaccutane. What the then 18-year-old didn’t know: Due to the active ingredient isotretinoin, women who take the drug must not become pregnant under any circumstances, as there is a risk that the child could develop deformities.
Doctors must therefore inform their patients sufficiently about the dangers. But that is exactly what should not have happened in this case. The young woman became pregnant in 2007 and gave birth to a son – with severe deformities. This is reported by the “Aargauer Zeitung”.
The child is now 15 years old and cannot speak. The mother sued the family doctor and demanded 150,000 francs in damages. She was not sufficiently informed about the dangers. In addition, she says, the doctor did not ask for a negative pregnancy test. But that is mandatory.
She knew from the package insert
The woman’s lawsuit failed in court. She took the verdict further to the Federal Court in Lausanne. But the doctor was not convicted here either. Experts came to the conclusion that the medic did not make a mistake.
The patient dossier was incomplete, but the woman was very well informed about the subject of contraception. In addition, when she first took it, she stated that she was sexually inactive and had no partner. In addition, she should have known about the danger from the package leaflet. The woman is to blame, so the verdict. (lrc)