What no one expected happened: An error in reading the exam after a vasectomy forces a Colombian doctor to support the maintenance of his patient’s daughter until she is 18 years old

A doctor in Medellín, Colombia, has to take care of the daughter of one of his patients.

What happened? The Galen made a mistake. He misinterpreted it, Semana reported, when reading the results of a spermogram test this patient underwent to confirm whether the vasectomy he had had three months earlier was effective.

They said yes and recommended dieting, staying away from alcohol and trying to exercise.

No one expected what happened: the patient’s partner became pregnant. The baby was born and “a judge (at first instance) held the doctor responsible for the pregnancy, for which he must pay his alimony.”

What is a vasectomy and 6 other important questions about this male sterilization procedure

The ruling obliges the doctor to care for the minor

The news that has been known since the end of last week is causing a stir in Medellín and the rest of the neighboring area.

The specific case, Blu Radio explains, corresponds to “a patient of the liquidated EPS (Health Promotion Entity) Saludcoop who underwent a vasectomy as a planning method, but the attending physician considered the procedure successful when in reality the semen indicated the opposite.

“Fruit of that unexpected conclusion did not advise the patient to continue using contraceptive methods to avoid the risk of pregnancy,” said the trial judge, noting that the doctor “acted guilty.”

“When it was proven that the parents did not want to produce more children, it was concluded that their life projects had an affection that had immaterial consequences,” the ruling reads.

The judge, added Blu Radio, “added the damage to the life of the couple’s relationship, as the unplanned conception means that those affected can no longer carry out daily activities in the same way as before, and now have to spend their time to the upbringing and care of the minor.

He appreciated that there was “harm in the exercise of his sexuality and reproductive freedom”. The family involved in this situation “claimed that they did not want another pregnancy because they did not have the financial resources to support it,” Semana reported.

According to the file, “the study was supposed to be read by a urologist, but was assigned to a general practitioner”.

compensation after vasectomy

The doctor of the controversial error was identified as Pablo S., La Razón reported. Both he and the EPS Saludcoop, which is in liquidation, “have to pay the girl until she turns 18 years old.”

Consequently, the above-mentioned media said, “the defendants must pay 80 legal minimum wages ($92,800,000) for moral damages and damage to life, plus 143 million pesos for consequential damages (alimony) and nearly 60 million more pesos to cover the costs of the cover lawsuit.

In total, this amounts to approximately 295 million pesos (approximately $64,500).

The patient’s situation occurred in 2012. Alcides de Jesús Gallego Toro, an affected patient, revealed to Blu Radio, Infobae, what had happened.

In 2012, he underwent surgery to prevent him from becoming a father. In 2013, the baby was born “to whom the doctor will now have to give money.”

The press reports that Gallego suffers from severe bilateral hypoacusia (deafness or hearing impairment), which prevents him from working.

This is a historic statement in Colombia, Blu Radio collects. In a lengthy thread on Twitter, Judge Diego Naranjo stated on May 10, 2023: “Last December, as a trial judge, I resolved an obstetric medical liability lawsuit alleging inadequate reading of a spermatozoa that caused the unwanted pregnancy and birth of a healthy child” .