A stroke suffered during childbirth left Bonnie Shi unable to lift her young children, robbed of her English and barely able to walk.
She was once a vivacious young mother with big plans. Now she lives a painful and difficult life.
A looming lawsuit and the confidential settlement that comes with it would have ensured the public were kept in the dark about what happened to Bonnie. But she was intent on telling her story before it was buried for good, in the hope a more transparent medical system will be changed for the better.
In March 2014 Bonnie delivered her second child at the Werribee Mercy Hospital near Melbourne. During the scheduled caesarean, Bonnie suffered a massive haemorrhage and her blood pressure dropped to perilous levels. Her doctor administered two medications — ergometrine and prostaglandin — in an attempt counteract this.
Medical advice obtained by her lawyers determined the medication was administered incorrectly — essentially, it said, too fast and too much — and Bonnie suffered a massive stroke that left the right side of her body in severe atrophy. She needed six months in physiotherapy to walk again.
The stroke’s damage to Bonnie’s brain also left her no longer able to speak English, which she once spoke fluently, having gained a degree in business management.
“I can’t even come up with a full sentence in English. And when I figure something, like figure a word out in my mind, it comes out different when I speak,” Bonnie said.
Bonnie and her husband York had no way of knowing their obstetrician had been quietly settling medical negligence claims by women he treated every year, on average, for more than a decade.
Doctor denies giving wrong dose
Bonnie’s obstetrician was Claude Calandra, who told 7.30 he did not deliver the wrong dose of ergometrine.
“These are standard drugs which we give, these were not overdosed in any way whatsoever, that I can swear to anyone who says that,” Dr Calandra said.
When asked if he thought he was at fault in any way, he replied: “Not at all, 100 per cent, and I’ll stand by what I did,” he said.
“It is distressing for all of us when there is an adverse outcome.
“Sometimes there is no answer. Like this poor patient Mrs Shi. It is heartbreaking. But how can I predict it?
“It is a fact of life, it is absolutely distressing. But we have to cope with it. And I do cope with it.”
‘Of course I feel targeted, but I don’t mind’
In February this year 7.30 aired a story about a cluster of baby deaths in Bacchus Marsh and discovered Dr Calandra among the staff at the hospital.
Although Dr Calandra was not directly linked to the baby deaths at Bacchus Marsh, 7.30 uncovered an extensive history of lawsuits against the obstetrician and gynaecologist, some 14 writs filed in just 15 years at hospitals across Melbourne’s west.
Mothers of children claiming hypoxic brain injury and stillbirth at the hands of Dr Calandra came forward to 7.30.
Former patient Tracey Danskin-Anthony was shocked to learn the doctor was still practising.
“I really do not understand why they keep him practising. He shouldn’t be allowed,” she said.
Top Comments
Perhaps people who have little or no experience working in hospitals and with patients, i.e. said lawyers acting on behalf of the plaintiff who are being paid to construct a "whodunnit" case like they were trained to in law school, are the reasons for a breakdown in trust between the public and the medical community. Anyone with a sliver of medical training knows that in some instances, and despite the best efforts of those with medical training, adverse outcomes do happen. This statement should not diminish the severity of the circumstance; rather, it should illuminate the fact that there are dangers and potential consequences to all procedures and treatments in medicine. Furthermore, this obstetrician delivers 300 babies and performs 700 procedures a year in a low socioeconomic area of greater Melbourne. It is a fact that low SES correlates to poorer health, and therefore a greater likelihood of an adverse outcome occurring in treatment. Why are we comparing him to his city counterparts, whose clientele potentially have the education, upbringing, and wealth to maintain a level of health that correlates less with poorer outcomes?
I was thinking the same thing!!! His results vs anothers of say 1 in 200 going wrong might be on par but ebcause he performs so many more procedures it looks bad to say "at least 1 a year" etc.
What an awful story, and how terrible that Bonnie has suffered such ill effects after her birth. I do agree that more transparency would be helpful for patients, medical fraternities do have a history of closing ranks when one of their members is accused of poor conduct. Jayant Patel is about the worst example of that.