The parents of a three-year-old girl who was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus (water on the brain) is claiming more than R23-million from the gynaecologist who delivered the child.
Adele van Wyk and the child's father Neil Louw, who already have a son (now nine) born with paralysis, said in papers before the Pretoria High Court that they would have aborted the foetus of their second child had they known she was going to be disabled.
The parents said their son's disability was already a financial drain on them and they could not afford a second disabled child. They stated that they had begged the Germiston specialist, Dr Walter Green, beforehand to do all the necessary tests to ensure their daughter would be born healthy, but that he failed to do all the tests.
The Johannesburg couple are claiming in their personal capacity as well as on behalf of their daughter Bernadine. Green also delivered the couple's first child.
Van Wyk consulted the specialist for the first time in May 2003, when she was at the very beginning of her pregnancy. She said she told him at the time to ensure that the foetus showed no abnormality as she could not cope with another disabled child.
She often went to Green for check-ups and several tests were done. These did not show up any abnormalities, but the pathologist recommended the doctor repeat one of the tests, because the results were unclear.
It was also recommended another scan of the vertebrae be done, but this never took place.
Van Wyk said she underwent several sonars on which the spina bifida should have been clearly visible. The last sonar was of such a poor quality, it was stated, that the foetus was not clearly visible.
She said if the specialist had done his job properly, as one would expect, he would have told her about her child's deformities. This would have resulted in her aborting at an early stage.
Instead, she said, he never mentioned any possibility of the child not being normal. She said the specialist had a duty of care towards parents to inform them of these matters, especially when they stressed they did not want a second disabled child.
Van Wyk stated that her daughter would never be able to walk or talk and she would need to be cared for until the day she died. The little girl, described as a friendly child, would require specialised care for the rest of her life.
The parents, it was stated, would also require psychological help and parental therapy to help them take care of the child.
She and the child's father, already cash-strapped, now had the responsibility to take care of the child themselves and to later place her in an institution.
The parents' claim included R2-million for past medical costs, R10-million for future medical costs and another R10-million towards the maintenance of the child until her death.
A medical report by Dr Pierre Davis stated that the spina bifida condition was visible on some sonars, but the specialist did not inform the parents of this.
Davis said Green ignored the results of a vital blood test which should have sounded alarm bells. Spina bifida was easy to diagnose in a foetus, but Green failed to do so, he said. "The fact that the mother was not given the option to terminate her pregnancy and now has a severely disabled child, gives her the fullest right to claim compensation."
Green denied any negligence or that he could have detected the deformities beforehand. He also denied that Van Wyk told him she wanted to abort if there were any defects. Green also denied that he owed the child a duty of care and thus denied any liability. No date has yet been set for the hearing.