Doc to Pay Child Support for Contraceptive Failure

(Karlsruhe, Germany) Here's the story, briefly. A gynecologist implanted a woman with a contraceptive device. It failed. A child was born. Court ruled that the doctor must pay child support.

From Deutsche Welle:

The Karlsruhe-based federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the doctor must pay his former patient, now a mother of a three-year-old boy, 600 euros ($769) a month because she became pregnant after he implanted her with a contraceptive device.

The device was a patch which slowly released birth-control hormones and was designed to be effective for three years.

But half a year after the procedure, she was found to be 16 weeks pregnant -- and neither the implant nor any of its chemicals were found in her body.

No one apparently knows what happened to the implant. Nevertheless, the woman sued for damages, won the case and, at the same time, significantly expanded the definition of medical liability in Germany. German gynecologists are in a panic.

My recommendation would be for the gynecologists to immediately scratch contraceptive implant procedures from the list of available services performed.