Doctor Suspended For Negligence After Baby Is Born Without Face

A doctor was suspended for medical negligence on Tuesday after a child was born under his supervision without eyes, nose and a part of the skull.

A Potueguese medical council voted unanimously to suspend Dr. Artur Carvalho after they found strong evidence of negligence that could lead to disciplinary action.

Parents of the baby boy Rodrigo, who was born on Oct. 7 at the São Bernardo Hospital in Setúbal, accused the doctor of being ignorant which resulted in the baby being born with severe abnormalities.

The baby’s mother was under Carvalho’s care, carrying out three ultrasound tests at his private clinic. He raised no concerns about the abnormalities of the child at that time.

The mother then carried out a more detailed ultrasound at a different clinic while she was six months pregnant. However, the concerns of the foetus having some abnormalities which came up during the scan were ignored by Carvalho.

"He explained that sometimes some parts of the face are not visible (on ultrasounds)... when the baby's face is glued to the belly of the mother," AFP quoted Rodrigo’s Aunt telling a local news broadcaster in Portugal.

However, after the baby’s birth, the abnormalities became clear, forcing Rodrigo’s parents to submit a complaint against Carvalho to the Portuguese Prosecutors' Office.

Apparently, this is not the first time a complaint has been launched against the Doctor. At least six complaints against Carvalho have come to light, dating back to 2013.

Other distraught parents came forward with similar stories of Carvalho being unable to detect abnormalities in their children during their pregnancies.

Lauro Afonso, whose baby was born in 2011 with deformed legs, disfigured face and severe brain damage, told a local news agency that a similar complaint registered by her against Carvalho was dismissed by the prosecutors.

In another case, a child had died months after his birth in 2007.

There was a huge public outrage in Portugal regarding how the country’s health system functioned after the details of these cases were documented and released by the local media.

The investigations are set to continue into Carvalho’s action. Medical Council Chief Alexandre Valentim Lourenco hoped that the doctor’s suspension would reassure the pregnant women to a certain extent.