Doctor faces new vasectomy claim

A second couple say they had a baby following the failure of a vasectomy done by Auckland doctor Johan Wilson.

The Herald yesterday reported that a Northland couple are suing Dr Wilson in the High Court at Auckland for $400,000.

They say two sterilisations he performed on the husband failed. Their third child was born in 2003 following the first operation. The wife became pregnant again after the second. She had an abortion and has suffered depression, needing medication.

Dr Wilson said he told the husband following the second vasectomy that his sperm count was still too high and arranged for him to see a specialist. He claims the man ignored his advice and his wife became pregnant.

But the couple deny this and claim Dr Wilson suggested the man was infertile.

Dr Wilson said he had stopped doing vasectomies.

The Health and Disability Commissioner's director of proceedings has charged Dr Wilson with professional misconduct and the Medical Council is reviewing his practice.

In the second case, the commissioner found the doctor breached the code of health consumers' rights and has referred the case to his director of proceedings to decide whether to lay a further charge.

The Pakuranga couple were "devastated" by the pregnancy and "had to decide, are we going to go through with it", the husband said yesterday. "We did, and we've got a lovely little daughter now. She's a bundle of joy." She is 10 months old.

After the vasectomy in 2003, the man bled profusely and was sent to Auckland Hospital where he had emergency surgery.

The commissioner's report on the case says Dr Wilson's failure to take a sample of the sperm-carrying vas deferens tube to send for laboratory confirmation that he had severed the correct tube is a "severe departure" from surgical standards.

Two clear sperm counts, commonly at four and six weeks after the vasectomy, are required before unprotected intercourse.

Dr Wilson provided no post-operative support, the report says. He argued this was the practice's responsibility, not his own, as he was a contractor, having sold the practice.

But the commissioner's report says the post-vasectomy sperm testing remained Dr Wilson's responsibility.

The patient said the doctor told him he "should be clear after about three months. He did mention that I would need to have tests done but he didn't follow up with it."

He waited six months and thought the risk of fertility was extremely low. He took reassurance from the comments of the hospital doctor who treated him that "everything seemed to be tied off satisfactorily".

Dr Wilson, a non-specialist, said his failure rate with vasectomies was about 1 in 100.

A senior urologist said the failure rate for GPs generally would be about 1 in 400, and for specialists, 1 in 1000.