UK: 20-year-old woman sues mom's doctor for allowing her to be born, wins millions

A 20-year-old woman from UK with a rare medical condition, who sued her mother’s doctor for allowing her to be born, has been awarded millions in damages. Evie Toombes, a para-showjumping star, was born with a medical condition called spina bifida, where the spine of a baby and the spinal cord, fail to develop in the womb. This results in a gap in the spine. Due to her spinal condition, Toombes sometimes had to be connected to tubes for an entire day. The 20-year-old made a ‘wrongful conception’ claim against her mother’s general practitioner, Dr Philip Mitchell. She claimed in her lawsuit that the doctor did not advise her mother properly to take vital supplements before she got pregnant. Evie Toombes sued her mother’s doctor for ‘having been born in a damaged state’ and in a landmark ruling at the London’s High Court, she won her case and a huge compensation payout. Judge Rosalind Coe QC gave a ruling against the doctor and said that the doctor did not advise her patient to take folic acid prior to conception, which could have prevented spina bifida. According to her lawyers, the exact amount of Evie Toombes claim is not known, but it is a big amount and would cover the cost of her medical needs. Toombes had alleged that her mother’s General Practitioner did not ask her to take folic acid supplements in order to reduce the risk of spina bifida in the baby. If he had done so, her mother would have delayed conceiving. Hence, Toombes would never have been born with the medical issue. Toombes mother, Caroline, also testified that she was asked to take a good diet and was told that the diet would compensate for the folic acid deficiency. Caroline added that if she was advised clearly about taking the supplements, she would have delayed her plans of conceiving. Toombes also suffers from some bowel and bladder issues but despite her medical condition, she has made a career in showjumping and has also won the ‘Inspiration Young Person Award’ in 2018.