Payout for pill mix-up

A woman who was mistakenly given anti-depressants instead of the contraceptive pill has been given £10,000 compensation after she gave birth.

Sarah Callaghan, from Oldbury, discovered the mix-up when she tried to get a repeat prescription.

After giving birth to a baby boy in May 2001 she instructed a clinical negligence law firm to represent her.

Mrs Callaghan and her husband James were given the cash in an out-of-court settlement this week after the practice, in Andover, Hampshire, where she was living at the time, admitted the mistake.

My husband and I did not want an abortion so there was never any doubt about whether we would go ahead with the pregnancy Sarah Callaghan

Ms Hampshire told the Express & Star newspaper in Wolverhampton she was "furious when she found out she had been given the wrong medication."

She said: "Doctors at the centre refused to give me a free pregnancy test and I had to buy one from the chemist next door."

Mrs Callaghan, who is expecting her second child, went to the Shepherds Spring Medical Centre, in August 2000 to receive the contraceptive after she began a long-distance relationship with her then boyfriend James.

Mistake discovered

The mistake was discovered by the pharmacist when she went to collect a repeat prescription.

"I have been appalled by the way the staff at the medical centre treated me and their attitude towards me since," she said.

"My husband and I did not want an abortion so there was never any doubt about whether we would go ahead with the pregnancy."

Spokeswoman for the centre said: "The practice has taken full responsibility and apologised unreservedly to Mr and Mrs Callaghan who have accepted a generous out-of-court settlement.

"Since the incident the practice has reviewed its repeat prescribing system and have assured Mr and Mrs Callaghan that it would be impossible for the same thing to happen again."