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PETBioNewsNewsWoman receives damages for stroke caused by IVF

BioNews

Woman receives damages for stroke caused by IVF

Published 9 June 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 315

Author

BioNews

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.

A UK woman left brain-damaged after a stroke caused by a rare side effect of IVF treatment is set to receive 'very substantial' agreed damages. The 34-year-old patient, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, became pregnant but then developed ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Fertility doctor Paul Rainsbury, of...

A UK woman left brain-damaged after a stroke caused by a rare side effect of IVF treatment is set to receive 'very substantial' agreed damages. The 34-year-old patient, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, became pregnant but then developed ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Fertility doctor Paul Rainsbury, of the Bupa Roding Hospital in Ilford, Essex, agreed last week in the High Court to pay her an undisclosed amount of compensation.


OHSS is caused by the drugs used in IVF to make the ovaries produce more eggs than usual. Mild symptoms of the syndrome, such as swelling and breathlessness, apparently affect up to 20 per cent of women undergoing treatment. However, very rarely, the symptoms are more severe and potentially fatal. Only one death from OHSS has been reported by the UK media to date, that of 33-year-old Temilola Akinbolagbe earlier this year. The total number of fatalities in the 30 years that IVF has been available in the UK is unknown, but it is believed to be less than five.


In the latest case, the woman became pregnant after receiving IVF treatment in 2000. She then developed symptoms of OHSS, which Mr Rainsbury identified on 7 August 2000, but diagnosed as 'mild'. Crucially, on 11 August, she telephoned Mr Rainsbury to say she felt very unwell. She claimed he told her not to worry, but she then later miscarried, the court heard. The next day, she suffered a stroke, and now has great difficulty with her speech, mobility, reasoning and decision-making. But Rainsbury's QC, John Grace, told the judge that if the case had gone to trial, the woman's evidence would have been contradicted by her medical notes - which show that many of her symptoms were still mild when she was admitted to hospital on 12 August.


Mr Rainsbury did not admit liability, but the woman is now set to receive a 'seven-figure' sum, according to the Daily Mail. Her barrister, James Badenoch, said the award meant that she could retain care of her only son and have some freedom from the constraints upon her. The judge, Mr Justice Nelson, approved the settlement.

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Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
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Image by Bill McConkey via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts sperm swimming towards an egg.
CC BY 4.0
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In this week's BioNews, we report on the case of a woman set to receive damages after she had a stroke following IVF. The patient, left brain-damaged, had developed a rare side effect of fertility treatment called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). In its most severe form, OHSS can be potentially...

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Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
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9 June 2009 • 1 minute read

Woman dies after routine IVF treatment

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A British woman who had undergone a standard IVF procedure at the Leicester Royal Infirmary has died unexpectedly while undergoing another medical procedure. A coroner and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is currently investigating the cause of death. During the egg collection operation for IVF...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
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9 June 2009 • 1 minute read

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by BioNews

A woman who was undergoing fertility treatment in the UK has died, a few days after she began the IVF process. Temilola Akinbolagbe, who was 33 years old, is understood to be the first woman to die as a result of the treatment in the UK. Only three other women...

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