Mother-to-be forced to have abortion after she was wrongly prescribed acne drugs which left her baby seriously disabled
A woman lost her unborn baby after she was prescribed a powerful acne drug not suitable for mothers-to-be.
Doctors should only have given Sarah Sharma, 27, isotretinoin after making absolutely sure that she was not pregnant.
But they failed to follow simple guidelines which state she should have been on the pill for at least a month before they took a pregnancy test.
Sarah Sharma (pictured with husband, Varun) had to have an abortion after acne drugs caused her unborn baby to develop with severe heart and nervous system abnormalities Mrs Sharma (pictured with daughter Asha, four-months-old) was prescribed Roccutane by doctors at Peterborough City Hospital. She and Mr Sharma won undisclosed damages after the abortion last JanuaryMrs Sharma later found out that she was pregnant and was told her baby had such serious heart and nervous system abnormalities that she would not survive.
The hospital has now paid damages after admitting it did not follow the correct procedure. Mrs Sharma was given a pregnancy test when she was prescribed the drug, but it came back negative because she was only in the very early stages of her pregnancy.
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Mrs Sharma, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, who named her unborn girl Indiya, said yesterday: ‘Losing Indiya was devastating but to find out after that her condition, and subsequent death, could have been prevented is almost unbearable.’
Mrs Sharma was referred to a Peterborough hospital dermatologist after suffering for a year from bad acne on her neck and chest.
The condition meant she was unable to wear many of her clothes because she only felt comfortable if her skin was fully covered up.
After trying creams that did not work, she was prescribed isotretinoin. She said: ‘I was told this new drug had great results in the past.
'At our first consultation meeting we were told it was a strong drug and there were some side effects. I was told that it could be dangerous for women who were pregnant and that in men it could cause issues with mental illness.
‘I was given an oral contraceptive pill on the same day I was given the drug and they did a pregnancy test and I was told that it came back negative.
'About two weeks after I started taking it I became very sick and ill and when I went to my GP he said it was a strong drug and my body was just not agreeing with it.
‘I persevered for another week and I tried to just get on with it because they went to all this trouble to prescribe this drug to me.
‘I then decided enough was enough but then I started suffering with stomach cramps and pains.’
Mrs Sharma did a pregnancy test herself and it came back positive.
She then went for a scan and discovered she was 11 weeks pregnant.
When she went for her 20 week scan she was told that her baby was severely deformed. She lost Indiya a week later.
Mrs Sharma’s salesman husband, Varun, 25, said: ‘We were left with nothing but broken hearts and empty arms.
'I lost all faith in the NHS the day Indiya was born sleeping.’
Before Mrs Sharma was given the drug she should have been asked to take more than one pregnancy test to ensure that she was not pregnant because it is known to be harmful to unborn babies Mrs Sharma was told at her 20-week scan that her unborn baby was severely disabled. She had to have an abortion and the baby, Indiya, was delivered when she was 21 weeks pregnant Peterborough City Hospital has apologised to Mr and Mrs Sharma and has reassured patients that this will not happen againA post-mortem examination confirmed Indiya had foetal isotretinoin syndrome caused by the acne drug.
Peterborough Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust medical director John Randall said: ‘As a result of lessons learned from this incident, our procedures have changed so that any drug treatment will only commence following two negative pregnancy test results taken a month apart, when women have been using appropriate contraception in line with guidance.’
The Sharmas have since had a second daughter, Asha.