A woman who is claiming damages arising from a sterilisation operation at the former Adelaide Hospital in Dublin has told the High Court she was suicidal when she went home from hospital.
Ms Ann Butler rejected a suggestion by Ms Mary Irvine SC, for the hospital, that she was giving false evidence in relation to her claim that she was suicidal after the operation on July 13th, 1995.
Yesterday was the third day of the action by Ms Butler (39), of Caragh Court, Naas, Co Kildare, against three doctors - Dr Patricia Crowley, a consultant gynaecologist; Dr S. A. Aziz, a gynaecologist; and Dr David Rolfe, an anaesthetist - and the hospital.
She claims she sustained serious nerve damage in her groin and genital area as a result of the manner in which the sterilisation procedure was carried out, and has severe problems walking and sitting and is unable to work.
Ms Irvine put it to Ms Butler that reports from medical staff indicated she was a long way from being suicidal on her discharge from the hospital. She suggested Ms Butler had asked to go home on November 3rd, 1995, with one report suggesting she was "feeling better".
Ms Butler denied the suggestion, and said as soon as she got up from bed, her pain would increase and she had become suicidal. She was anxious to go home, and was suicidal when she went home. "I was in excruciating pain when I got home."
Under further cross-examination, Ms Butler said she had not called her practitioner, but rather had taken medication.
Asked could she show any evidence to suggest she had pain on opening her legs, Ms Butler said that in one medical report in August 2001 she had complained of pain in the pubic area.
Ms Irvine said she was not talking about the situation obtaining six years after the operation.
Ms Butler was asked about injuries she sustained in a traffic accident. She said there were only soft tissue injuries, and these had resolved themselves from 1981.
The case continues today.