UK woman who sued mom’s doctor for being born wins millions

In a landmark judgment, a UK court has decided in the favour of a 20-year woman who had sued her mother's doctor for millions, claiming that she should never have been born. Evie Toombes, now 20, was born with a condition known as spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord do not form properly. Toombes has to be hooked up to tubes at times up to 24 hours a day because of her condition.

Toombes sued her mother’s doctor, Dr Philip Mitchell, on grounds of his "failure to prescribe vital supplements to her mother before she got pregnant," according to a report in Daily Mail. Toombes’ contention was that if her mother had been informed by Dr Mitchell about the need to take folic acid supplements to overcome the risk of spina bifida affecting her offspring, she would never have gotten pregnant in the first place; thus Toombes would never be born.

Judge Rosalind Coe QC from the London High Court supported Toombes’ assertion and handed down a decision in her favour, in what is believed to be a landmark case. The judge ruled that had Toombes’ mother been "provided with the correct recommended advice, she would have delayed attempts to conceive."