Judge Rosalind Coe QC from the London High Court in a landmark judgment, has decided in the favour of a 20-year woman who had sued her mother’s doctor for millions, claiming that she should never have been born.
Evie Toombes, now 20, was born with a condition known as spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord do not form properly. Toombes has to be hooked up to tubes at times up to 24 hours a day because of her condition.
Daily mail reported that Toombes dragged her mother’s doctor, Dr Philip Mitchell to court on grounds of his “failure to prescribe vital supplements to her mother before she got pregnant,”
Meanwhile Toombes’ contention was that if her mother had been informed by Dr Mitchell about the need to take folic acid supplements to overcome the risk of spina bifida affecting her offspring, she would never have gotten pregnant in the first place; hence Toombes would never be born.
Judge Rosalind concurred with Toombes’ assertion and handed down a decision in her favour. The judge ruled that had Toombes’ mother been “provided with the correct recommended advice, she would have delayed attempts to conceive.”
“In the circumstances, there would have been a later conception, which would have resulted in a normal healthy child,” she said.
Hence Toombes was awarded the right to a huge payout, which Toombes’ lawyer has not yet set but which is expected to be large enough to cover for Toombes’ medical lifelong medical expenses.
Notwithstanding her health conditions, Toombes is a showjumping star, having competed against able-bodied and challenged competitors alike.
