Failure to Diagnose Serious Congenital Heart Condition During Pregnancy

  • Outcome: Settlement [$650,000 incl. costs]
  • Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
  • Defendants: Private Radiologist, Private GP and Regional NSW Public Hospital

This claim investigated a medical negligence claim arising from the failure to diagnose a serious congenital heart defect during routine prenatal ultrasounds, which deprived parents of the opportunity to make informed decisions about their pregnancy.

The female plaintiff became pregnant in late 2012 and received routine antenatal care. During the pregnancy, she underwent a number of obstetric ultrasounds, including scans at 14, 19 and 22 weeks’ gestation. The imaging was reported as showing no obvious abnormalities.

However, following the birth of her daughter M in July 2013, the baby was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a severe congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is critically underdeveloped. Children born with this condition typically require complex cardiac surgery and ongoing specialised medical care throughout their lives.

Missed Opportunity for Prenatal Diagnosis

The claim centred on whether the condition should have been detected during the routine prenatal ultrasound examinations performed during the pregnancy. Expert medical evidence was sought regarding the adequacy of the imaging and whether the abnormality ought to have been identified during standard morphological screening.

It was alleged that the failure to diagnose the condition meant that the parents were not provided with the opportunity to receive appropriate counselling, specialist referral or consider termination of the pregnancy prior to viability.

Impact on the Family

M’s condition required intensive and ongoing medical treatment. The demands of caring for a child with a life-threatening cardiac condition placed enormous emotional and practical strain on the family.

Both parents developed significant psychological symptoms following their daughter’s diagnosis and ongoing medical complications, including depression, anxiety and trauma associated with the child’s life-threatening illness.

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