Urologist suspended for not discussing failed vasectomy with patient who inadvertently fathers fifth child

A Québec urologist who performed a failed vasectomy on a patient whose wife became pregnant within a year of the procedure has been suspended for two months. Dr. Claudio Jeldrès, who practises in Sherbrooke—where he also teaches, at the Universite de Sherbrooke’s school of medicine—should have informed the patient that the bilateral vasectomy did not work and that a spermogram performed almost five months after the procedure showed an abundant presence of sperm. As a result of Dr. Jeldrès’ failure to follow up and communicate adequately after the procedure, the patient and his wife stopped using contraceptives, according to the decision document issued by the disciplinary board of the Collège des médecins du Québec. "The respondent should have followed up on the results transmitted by the pathologist and quickly discussed with his patient the probable risks that the vasectomy he performed will be a failure and to advise him accordingly not to stop the couple's means of contraception, the time to obtain the results of the post-vasectomy spermogram," the college’s medical expert, a Montreal urologist, wrote in his report. Read: Misdiagnosed emergency: Doctor's appeal is denied in the case of teen patient who lost his only testicle The patient and his wife already had three children and were expecting a fourth child when the patient decided in December 2015 to have a vasectomy. The couple considered an abortion when they learned more than a year later they were about to have a fifth child but, according to a TVA Nouvelles report, the wife changed her mind when she heard the fetus’ heartbeat. The couple subsequently sued the Integrated University Health Centre in Estrie, Que., and Dr. Jeldrès for $857,000 in compensation for the difficulties they claimed they experienced as a result of the failed vasectomy. These difficulties included having to move to a bigger house and the wife being forced to quit her job to take care of her five children, according to the TVA report. Dr. Jeldrès performed the vasectomy in January 2016, about a month after a colleague had evaluated the patient and submitted a request for the procedure. Immediately following the operation, samples were sent to a pathology lab for analysis and a note added to the patient’s file indicated that a spermogram must be performed within three months to confirm the success of the vasectomy. Read: Want to talk vasectomies? Just call A pathology report issued almost two months later noted that “no vas deferens is found or identified on the sections in connection with the identified samples.” The pathologist who created the report told college investigators he had informed Dr. Jeldrès about this “extraordinary” finding. Access logs showed Dr. Jeldrès viewed the patient’s files 10 days after the pathology report was issued. However, a record of the patient’s visit on April 18—when he came in complaining of an infection—makes no mention of the pathology report. It does note that the spermogram, which should have taken place three months after the vasectomy, had not yet been done at the time. The spermogram was eventually done in May 2016, about five months after the vasectomy. But according to the TVA report, the patient had to call Dr. Jeldrès’ clinic four times to inquire about the result of the spermogram and was told by an administrator in January 2017 that no news meant he was sterile. The couple stopped using contraception shortly after this conversation. In March 2017, the patient’s wife became pregnant. The couple filed a claim for damages against the hospital and Dr. Jeldrès in September 2020. Read: Flat denial: When a doctor flouts a patient's wish to forego post-mastectomy breast reconstruction

Urologist suspended for not discussing failed vasectomy with patient who inadvertently fathers fifth child

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