Grieving parents seek compo

By MARTIN JOHNSTON health reporter

Fleur flicks through a book with children's drawings of hearts on it and pictures of her dead daughter inside.

It was a welcome book for her baby girl, who had no heartbeat after her traumatic birth in July 1996 at National Women's Hospital and who died 10 days later. The snapshots show her in the intensive-care unit, with tubes all over her little body.

Despite the passing of seven years, the West Auckland family's sense of loss is still raw. They visit their baby's grave every fortnight.

Fleur and her husband, Jim - these are not their real names, which are suppressed - are pleased that one of the doctors involved has been disciplined, but they are pushing for more legal action, as they have received no compensation.

"I'm not happy because they closed the case without anything - no compensation for my baby dying," Fleur said last week.

"It is not right. It is not fair on me. The doctor has run away."

After an appeal hearing, a High Court judge found a National Women's registrar, Dr Katherine McKenzie, guilty of unbecoming conduct, the lowest level of offending, because she failed to properly supervise a probationary Iraqi house surgeon, Dr Karim, during the birth.

This followed an appeal verdict of guilty of professional misconduct in the Auckland District Court. The Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal had earlier found her not guilty of this charge.

No penalty was sought and none was ordered.

The baby was Fleur's seventh delivery - her other six children are now aged 9 to 21 - and it was considered a high-risk labour.

She had a history of bleeding and her previous birth, in 1994, was an emergency caesarean with similarities to the 1996 tragedy, but the baby boy recovered.

The tribunal said that although the heart rate of Fleur's foetus was checked at the hospital during the 1996 labour, there was no continuous heart-rate monitoring.

The High Court heard that Dr Karim was also to face disciplinary proceedings but left the country and could not be traced.

The tribunal said Dr Karim provided references to National Women's, but there was no evidence anyone had checked them or her referees, qualifications or experience.

Fleur and Jim's lawyer, Olinda Woodroffe, said she would explore making a legal claim for exemplary damages against the hospital and Dr McKenzie.