Surgeon must pay over failed vasectomy

A surgeon who was unsuccessfully sued over a failed vasectomy has been ordered by the Court of Appeal to pay the Wairarapa District Health Board $5000 in legal costs.

The health board had appealed a High Court ruling that said it must pay a third of surgeon Alan Shirley's legal bill after Masterton couple Scott and Melissa Bensemann lost their bid for compensation from Mr Shirley last year, after the vasectomy he performed on Mr Bensemann failed.

Mr Shirley spent $34,000 defending the case and the High Court in Wellington ruled the health board should pay a third of his costs.

But the Court of Appeal said that because the health board was not involved in the litigation (it had earlier paid the couple a $20,000 settlement) it was not liable for costs.