Doctors Induce Labor, Give C-Section to Nonpregnant Woman

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By Marrecca Fiore Apr 1st 2010 12:08PM

Categories: Women's Health, News
The North Carolina Medical Board has issued letters of concern to two doctors at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, N.C., after several doctors and interns tried to deliver a baby from a woman who was not pregnant.

Although the incident happened in November 2008, the board issued the letters this year during its January-February actions, following a more than yearlong investigation.

According to the letters, which are posted on the medical board's Web site, the doctors in question attempted to induce labor on a woman, identified only as "Patient A," claiming to be pregnant. When inducing labor did not work, a Cesarean section was performed, during which the doctors discovered the woman's empty uterus.

It was later determined that the patient was suffering from pseudocyesis, also known as false pregnancy.

The two doctors who were issued the letters of concern were Gerianne Geszler, M.D., the doctor in charge the night the incident took place, and Dorette Grant, M.D., the doctor who performed the Cesarean section.

Laura Corio, an obstetrician/gynecologist in private practice and affiliated with Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, told AOL Health she cannot believe such a thing could happen in "this day and age."

"This is a ridiculous story," said Corio, who is also a women's health specialist for AOL Health. "In this day and age of ultrasounds (sonograms), how could such a thing happen? My patients have multiple sonos in pregnancy. This patient should have had a sonogram documenting a live fetus in utero before anything was done to her."

Geszler told Raleigh, N.C.-based ABC 11 that a resident working under her made the original diagnosis.

"And so [the resident] said she did an ultrasound, and she said, 'no heartbeat,'" Geszler told the television station. "So [the patient] convinced the resident that she wanted to be induced at Cape Fear Valley, so the resident said, 'can I induce here,' and I said, 'okay.'"

Geszler was chastised by the board for not examining the patient before allowing the C-section.

"Your inappropriate reliance on their diagnosis and the failure to conduct your own examination were contributing factors in the unnecessary attempt at a [Cesarean] delivery," said medical board President Donald E. Jablonski in a letter to Geszler.


http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/04/01/doctors-induce-labor-give-c-section-to-non-pregnant-woman?icid=main|aim|dl3|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolhealth.com%2F2010%2F04%2F01%2Fdoctors-induce-labor-give-c-section-to-non-pregnant-woman

WTF???

Just....WTF????

Good grief. My daughter's mom had THREE sonos while IN LABOR to make sure my daughter hadn't turned the wrong way ffs.