Doctor: faulty heart monitor to blame for baby’s death, not me
A DOCTOR at the centre of a Medical Council inquiry into the death of a baby boy shortly after his birth at Portlaoise Hospital has claimed the announcement of a review into foetal heartbeat monitors has given him some ‘peace’.
However, his claim has been rejected by the Medical Council which said the recall of the machinery has ‘no bearing’ on the allegations against him.
Baby Mark Molloy died 22 minutes after his birth at the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, on January 24, 2012.
Obstetrics registrar Dr A, who cannot be named, is facing seven allegations of professional misconduct and/or poor professional performance in relation to their baby’s death.
The inquiry, which last sat in November and resumed yesterday, heard that Dr A used a Philips Avalon FM30 Cardiotocograph (CTG) machine to conduct a scan on Ms Molloy.
Dr A used the CTG machine in order to obtain the foetal heart rate but the scan instead picked up the maternal heart rate, the inquiry heard. As a result, Dr A, who is representing himself at the committee, said he was unable to see the foetal distress.
Yesterday, it emerged that a recall had been issued by Philips in November 2009 due to a number of complaints that the machine was conflating the mother’s heartbeat and that of the foetus. Philips advised hospitals which carried the CTG machines that it did not believe there was a need for them to stop using the Avalon FM30 at the time.
The manufacturer said if there was any concern regarding the foetal heartbeat tracing that an additional obstetric stethoscope or ultrasound should be used to observe the foetal heartbeat.
Philips issued a further warning to ensure those who use the machine were aware of its shortcomings. It is not known whether or not Dr A was informed of the machine’s inaccuracies by his employers in Portlaoise Hospital.
Philips said the issue with the machine may lead professionals to fail to recognise the need for intervention.
The Molloys first heard about the machine’s issues in 2014 and contacted an expert in the UK to look into the anomaly.
Counsel for the Medical Council, Frank Beatty, yesterday argued that while Philips’s 2009 statement was termed a recall, it did not involve the equipment being physically recalled. A further notice was issued a year later by Philips which said that staff should not solely rely on the CTG and should carry out their own foetal heart rate checks.
Last night, the HSE said a software revision was applied to all the relevant CTG machines in Ireland, which Philips confirmed to the Health Product Regulatory Authority in November 2011. Speaking, at yesterday’s inquiry – ahead of the HPRA’s announcement – Dr A said the news that the HSE is due to conduct a review into the machinery he used when obtaining the incorrect foetal heartbeat gave him some ‘peace’.
Dr A, who grew emotional at various points during the inquiry, attributed his incorrect reading of the foetal heartbeat to an error in the CTG machine used. ‘I was a qualified registrar with years of experience and trained in the interpretation of CTG. My ability to interpret is not to be questioned,’ Dr A told the committee presiding over his case.
‘The CTG appeared normal when I arrived. It said there was no cause for alarm.
‘If you want to accuse me that I failed to interpret, that is wrong.
‘With these new findings my mind is a little bit more at peace.’
Dr A then turned to Róisín Molloy and her husband Mark and expressed his sadness at what happened through tears.
The often chaotic hearing heard yesterday morning that Dr A wished to adjourn the trial until March in order to gather expert evidence that would show the machinery was to blame for the missed foetal distress.
The adjournment was granted by the committee. However, Dr A later informed the hearing he did not want an adjournment and wanted the inquiry to continue so that his wife who was visiting from Africa could be by his side for the rest of the inquiry.
Dr A asked if he would be eligible for legal aid and the committee’s legal adviser, SC Patricia Dillon, told him legal aid had never before been granted in a fitness-to-practise inquiry.
Mr Beatty for the Medical Council said the recall of the machinery has ‘no bearing’ on the allegations against Dr A.
The inquiry is due to continue today.
‘My mind is a little bit more at peace’