Couple sues doctor, CHC for allegedly botched vasectomy

A police officer and his wife yesterday sued the Commonwealth Health Center and a doctor over a failed vasectomy surgery that failed to prevent the woman from getting pregnant. The woman eventually gave birth to a child with disability. While the success of the surgery was still unknown, the doctor had allegedly accused the woman of impropriety in her marriage.

Eric David and his wife Tanya, together with a child, lodged with the Superior Court a civil action against Dr. John Yarofalir, who allegedly performed the vasectomy surgery on the officer sometime last year.

In a complaint, the Davids’ attorney, Eric Bozman, said the failed vasectomy surgery resulted in the wife’s pregnancy, delaying her plans to complete her studies at the Northern Marianas College and eventually join the Army.

Bozman said the woman was also made to take a prescription drug without her knowledge that she was pregnant, which was believed to have resulted in her baby’s hearing problem.

In a complaint, Bozman noted that the policeman agreed to a vasectomy surgery sometime in April 2004. Bozman said the officer followed all of Yarofalir’s orders and returned to the hospital on May 6 for a follow-up examination, but the doctor never recommended the patient for a sperm count.

Bozman said the doctor knew that the wife would remove her intrauterine device—a birth control device—a month after the husband’s vasectomy surgery. The woman assumed that she would not get pregnant upon the doctor’s advice.

The attorney said the vasectomy was unknowingly unsuccessful. The officer’s wife became pregnant several months after the surgery was completed.

“Dr. Yarofalir accused Tanya of impropriety to her husband, even though a later sperm count showed that the vasectomy had been unsuccessful. Tanya had to drop out of school and delay her plans to be an officer,” Bozman said, adding that the woman became depressed and had to attend psychiatric counseling.

The lawyer accused the hospital of negligence in failing to provide properly trained doctors and ascertaining Yarofalir’s competency. He said it was negligence on the part of Yarofalir to fail to inform David of the need to perform a sperm count after a vasectomy.

He also pointed out that the unplanned pregnancy resulted in medical costs until the woman gave birth and began child rearing; the child’s disability would result in the loss of future earnings. The Davids are seeking unspecified damages against the government hospital and Yarofalir.