A Tipperary woman has given evidence at a Medical Council inquiry where her doctor is facing allegations of poor professional performance.
It is claimed the doctor at South Tipperary General Hospital wrongly diagnosed an ectopic pregnancy in the woman in January 2013, when the pregnancy was actually in the womb.
38 year old Laura Esmonde, from just outside Tipperary town, attended the A&E department at South Tipperary General Hospital with a swollen leg on the 6th January 2013.
A routine test showed that she was pregnant, which she hadn't known.
Following an ultrasound, Dr. A, a consultant obstetric and gynaecologist at the Clonmel Hospital, diagnosed her with an ectopic pregnancy and prescribed medication to end the pregnancy….Ms Esmonde subsequently had a miscarriage.
It is alleged that 'Dr A' failed to rule out an intra-uterine pregnancy and should have adopted a wait-and-see approach and have ordered more scans and tests.
Ms Esmonde was later transferred to Cork University Hospital for treatment on a clot in her leg…the inquiry has heard that on 26 January doctors there found it was not an ectopic pregnancy but it was no longer viable.
Ms Esmonde complained to the Medical Council alleging that 'Dr A' incorrectly diagnosed an ectopic pregnancy, that the doctor wrongly advised her not to wait and to have the drug, when she had a viable pregnancy.
The Medical Council inquiry will resume today.
