Man tries to sue Melbourne hospital after watching his wife’s caesarean led to the breakdown of his marriage

A father has tried to sue a hospital after he claimed watching his wife deliver their baby via C-section left him with mental distress.

Anil Koppula took legal action against the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, seeking $1 billion in damages after watching his wife’s caesarean in 2018.

He said he developed a ‘psychotic illness’, after he saw his wife’s blood and organs, and watching the procedure had led to the ‘breakdown of his marriage’.

‘Mr Koppula alleges that he was encouraged, or permitted, to observe the delivery, that in the course of doing so, he saw his wife’s internal organs and blood…He says that the hospital breached a duty of care it owed to him and is liable to pay him damages,’ the court papers say.

Mr Koppula, who represented himself in court, claimed that the hospital should be liable for damages of $1bn.

The Royal Women’s Hospital acknowledged its responsibility to provide a duty of care, but denied that it breached it.

Justice James Gorton on Tuesday threw out the lawsuit, calling it an ‘abuse of process,’ the Herald Sun reports.

According to the judgement, the law does not allow someone to receive damages for non-economic loss unless their injury is a ‘significant injury’.

Koppula underwent a medical examination, and a panel determined ‘the degree of psychiatric impairment resulting from the injury to the claimant alleged in the claim does not satisfy the threshold level’.’

He didn’t agree with the panel’s decision, but he chose not to request a review of their ruling. 

Subsequently, the hospital filed a request to have the legal proceedings dismissed.

‘I am therefore satisfied that the legal effect of the Medical Panel’s determination is that Mr Koppula is simply unable, as a matter of law, to recover damages for non-economic loss,’ Justice Gorton said.

A C-section is a surgical procedure in which a baby is delivered through an incision made in the mother’s abdominal wall and uterus. This surgical method is typically performed when a vaginal delivery is considered unsafe or not possible.

C-sections are typically performed under anesthesia, and the surgeon makes an incision through the abdominal muscles and uterus to deliver the baby.

The man alleged he suffered a ‘psychotic illness’ after watching the birth of his child and sought $1 billion in damages 

The hospital denied they caused the man significant mental distress but they acknowledged the correct duty of care wasn’t provided

When a woman is having a C-section, some dads may find watching the process uncomfortable, according to healthcare company Banner Health, which has no connection to the lawsuit.

‘While rare, some dads still may get a little queasy—even when they can’t see what’s happening,’ Karleen Lee, an RN supervisor at Banner Health, said on the company’s website.

‘Remember to not jump up out of your seat too quickly and let the anaesthesiologist or surgery team know if you are feeling a little faint. 

‘They have ways of helping dads, whether through conversation as a distraction or with an ammonia inhalant or smelling salts to prevent fainting.’