News In Focus
8 December 2005
March date set for landmark legal case
A date has been set in March for the hearing of a landmark legal case where a mother is claiming £250,000 from an NHS trust in compensation for a failed abortion.
Stacy Dow was 16 when she discovered she was six weeks pregnant with twins and decided to have an abortion. Following the procedure she was given a contraceptive injection, but only seven weeks from her due date she found out she was still pregnant.
Miss Dow gave birth to a healthy daughter in August 2001. She decided to pursue a claim for £250,000 against Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust to pay for the financial burden of raising her child.
A March date was fixed at Perth Sheriff Court yesterday for both sides to debate the claim.
Miss Dow's claim states that she suffered loss, injury and damage because of the failed termination, and that caring for Jade has impeded her ability to obtain employment.
The health trust has accepted that one foetus was left behind during the abortion, but is defending the action.