An operation carried out by Dr Rachael Patton, an obstetrician/gynaecologist, to evacuate a dead foetus from a woman's womb had "absolutely not" fallen below acceptable standards, the High Court was told yesterday.
"I would have done exactly the same procedure," Dr Michael Turner, a consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin, said. He believed his consultant colleagues around the State would have done the same.
Asked about claims that the operation carried out by Dr Patton on Ms Fiona Griffin to evacuate a 17-week-old dead foetus in January 1998 fell below acceptable standards, Dr Turner said: "Absolutely not."
He was continuing his evidence on the seventh day of an action for damages taken by Ms Griffin (46), Estuary Walk, Ballynoe, Cobh, Co Cork, against Dr Patton, arising from the operation carried out on her at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork.
Ms Griffin has alleged that parts of the foetus were left within her body after the operation. Dr Patton has denied negligence.
Yesterday, Dr Turner said that, even after a successful delivery, it was possible to have retained product. It was rare for a part of the baby to be retained in the uterus, he said.
He said Dr Patton had followed standard practices in the operation. The normal clues did not exist in this case. If there was an isolated bone, it was very difficult to diagnose clinically.
Dr Turner said there were cases of women having a piece of bone in their uterus 15 years after they had lost a baby without any symptoms and such fragments were only picked up incidentally. Such procedures involved a judgment which doctors all over the world did not always get right, he said.
Dr Turner also said it was not standard practice here, or in any other country, to perform an ultra sound scan after an evacuation. There was no clinical evidence of retained products, he added.
This was a highly unusual case because pieces of retained bone were such a rare event. In the absence of symptoms, scans were not done routinely, he said. He added that 75 per cent of women may have some part of a retained product left behind which is subsequently expelled naturally.
In cross-examination, Mr Sean Ryan SC, for Ms Griffin, questioned Dr Turner about the failure of Dr Patton to detect a 5.5 centimetre bone in the uterus. Dr Turner said: "It happens. I don't necessarily accept she was wrong. We don't always get it 100 per cent right. It is not a precise science. It happens to the best and most skilled operators." The hearing continues today.