Pregnancies after sterilization
Brahams, D.
Lancet 1(8481): 627
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0140-6736 PMID: 2869343 Document Number: 343829
In two British cases, Eyre v. Measday and Thake v. Maurice, patients sued surgeons for failing to warn that sterilization procedures may fail. In the Eyre case, the Court of Appeal held that the contract for laparoscopy which referred to irreversibility meant that the procedure could not be undone--not that it was bound to succeed. In the absence of an express warranty the physician could not be held responsible for the birth of the plaintiff's child. In Thake, the surgeon characterized a vasectomy as "final" and "irreversible" but failed to warn of the possibility of late recanalization. Four years later the plaintiff's wife had a baby. The Court of Appeal held that there was no case on contract but that the surgeon was negligent in failing to warn of recanalization. The author contends that the possibility of failure should be included in consent forms for sterilization procedures.