It was the big dream of a 39-year-old woman from Weert: to become a surgeon. But it will never come true, because she became pregnant unwanted. Despite an IUD she had inserted in the Máxima Medisch Centrum (Máxima medical centre, MMC) in Veldhoven.
And that is why she wants compensation, Omroep Brabant writes. According to the Limburg native, who now works as a youth doctor, the hospital was at fault. Partly because of her pregnancy, she could not continue her studies as a surgeon. She now wants to see money: nearly €2.400,000. “It hurts my heart that my professional career turned out differently than I had wished”, she said.
The woman gave explanations on Tuesday morning at the district judge in Den Bosch. Slightly nervous and sometimes, confirming what she stated, looking sideways at her lawyer.
Difficult relationship
It is a sensitive case, in more ways than one. The woman had a difficult (working) relationship with the MMC. She started there as a trainee doctor in July 2012. Two and a half years later, she says, she was unexpectedly told that that the study was coming to an end. Earlier, that happened to her at VieCuri Medisch Centrum (medical centre) in Venlo. “I didn’t see it coming, it overwhelmed me and I called in sick”, she says.
A disputes committee ruled later that year that the MMC had made a wrong decision, after which it was decided to let her continue her education at Maastricht UMC+. Here, the student would receive intensive guidance and a plan of action.
Third child or abortion
But then Murphy’s Law kicked in: everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The trainee doctor had to undergo knee surgery and her husband had long-term psychological problems. In addition, the couple was in the middle of a remodel and moving house, and two small children were running around. To make matters worse, she got pregnant unwanted in late February 2016 while using an IUD to prevent it. She had had this inserted at MMC in 2014, when she was still working there.
“It was a very tough time. I wondered where the IUD had gone and had to make the difficult decision to keep the child or have it removed. In the end, I agreed to the pregnancy, but it meant having a third and having to postpone the start of my training as a surgeon”.
“My dream was falling apart. Becoming a surgeon was my passion”, the Weert native recounted. Her supervisor had “no confidence” in a successful continuation. In early 2017, she resigned herself to the inevitable: she will never work as a surgeon.
Even more money
So now she has changed tack and is working as a youth physician. But with the MMC, she is not done yet. After years of litigation, she has already received compensation for getting pregnant despite the IUD. Both parties would not say what amount is involved.
MMC must, if it is up to the Weert youth doctor, come up with even more money: almost €2.400,000. During Tuesday’s hearing of the case, it was not clear on what basis the amount was determined. What is clear is that the case will drag on for months. “It will be a long sit”, one of the lawyers warned in advance.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
