Doctor mistakenly gives woman contraceptives instead of Vitamins jab
A young couple trying for a baby have been awarded £5,500 compensation after a doctor wrongly injected her with a powerful contraceptive instead of vitamins.
Mother-of-one Megan Palmer, 27, of Ashingdon, Essex, visited her GP for a jab which was supposed to help improve her fertility so she could have a second baby.
Doctor mistakenly gives woman contraceptives instead of Vitamins jab
A young couple trying for a baby have been awarded £5,500 compensation after a doctor wrongly injected her with a powerful contraceptive instead of vitamins.
Mother-of-one Megan Palmer, 27, of Ashingdon, Essex, visited her GP for a jab which was supposed to help improve her fertility so she could have a second baby.
But instead she was given Depo-Provera – a birth control shot lasting up to three months – despite querying the packaging with the nurse.
Mrs Palmer said: ‘We were devastated.
‘We had been trying so hard to get pregnant and finding out that I had been given a contraceptive made our lives really stressful.’
Mrs Palmer claims she asked the doctor for the vitamin B12 – an injection to help your body use fat and carbohydrates for energy and make new protein – to improve the chances of conceiving.
But the error on behalf of the Rochford Medical Practice caused Megan to develop a psychological disorder because of the anxiety as to whether she would ever conceive again.
She added: ‘I didn’t know when my fertility would return to normal and this affected our plans to add to our family.’
Depo-Provera prevents pregnancy by releasing progesterone into the bloodstream and is considered 99 per cent effective.
It lasts for 13 weeks but can affect fertility for up to a year.
Side effects can also include weight gain, headaches, mood swings, breast tenderness and irregularity of periods.
Mrs Palmer and husband James decided to make a claim for medical negligence against Rochford Medical Practice and won their case.
Megan was subsequently awarded £5,500 in compensation.
She added: ‘We decided we would make a claim because we felt it was important to show how vital it is that nurses listen to their patients.’
Fortunately, Megan has since been able to conceive and has recently given birth to a baby boy.
Megan said: ‘We are fortunate that I did eventually get pregnant.
‘It was such a stressful time and it had such an impact on our lives.
‘It is an incredible relief to finally have our family complete.
‘I hope speaking out will act as an incentive to other patients to stick to their guns if they feel their concerns are being ignored.’
