It is The Ancient Mariner..who stoppeth everyone to drone on about this. I promise this is the last one...until we have exciting messages from lawyers!!:

So we are going to sit in Sukothai for 2 months and wait

ENTER THE POLL: TO SUE OR NOT TO SUE........???

She was born on May 2002 to *&* in ** Hospital Bangkok Thailand.

A copy of her birth certificate and house paper are attached.(1)

By virtue of being born in Thailand and having a Thai mother and a European father she presently holds dual Thai and a European nationality.

** Hospital is a private hospital and recognised by insurance companies such as BUPA. It states that it holds ISO 9002 recognition. The validating company in the United Kingdom SGS confirms that these certificates, issued in 1999, are current and that their last visit to the Hospital was in May 2002. SGS, in an email message, says… 'the certification of IS0 9002 is for 'healthcare and full range of clinical services'. They add that this means that 'on the day of their visit' the appropriate procedures were in place.

She was born by elective caesarian section there being some uncertainty as to whether she would alter her position which was over the pelvic bone. At birth she was given an APGAR score of 10 within 5 minutes and no malformations or defects were reported. She passed meconium and was urinating normally; she rejected infant formula and was breastfeeding. She was discharged from the hospital after three days.

Copies of the obstetrician's and doctor's notes relating to her birth are attached.(2)

Between birth and now she visited ** Hospital on three occasions, was checked by the paediatrician and received appropriate immunisations. No problems were diagnosed nor presenting.

A copy of her ongoing medical record is attached.(3)

On August 31st 2002 she ceased passing stools. Hitherto her movements had been apparently normal. As she is was breast fed there was as far as we understood no undue cause for alarm; though some solid foods- banana, rice, papaya and prunes were introduced into her diet around August 31 she ate very little of them.

On September 2nd she was taken to the hospital for a routine immunisation and check up. No problem was diagnosed or presenting.

When by September 10 she had not passed a stool she was taken again to ** Hospital. The diagnosis, by two doctors, was that there was no cause for worry but that an enema could be administered. This was not done on the basis it was better for her to pass stools normally. . On September 15 a hard mass could for the first time be felt in her stomach so she was taken back to the hospital.

She was admitted to the hospital. X Rays were taken and a mass of faeces was identified on the right hand side of her stomach;. 'suggestive of dilated sigmoid colon'. A small amount of faeces was also identified on the left hand side. The radiologist's report continues: 'dilated bowel loop in upper abdomen. Just below diaphragm; could be transverse colon. Some air density in small bowel. …Hirschsprung's disease should be considered.'

The Radiologists report from ** Hospital is attached. (4)

For whatever reason this report appears to have either not been read by the doctor at ** Hospital or ignored or rejected. No tests for Hirschsprung's disease were carried out, nor for any other possible malfunction; no barium meal was given for example, nor was rectal biopsy prposed..

A short description from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, outlining the normal presenting symptoms, the usual tests carried out for diagnosis and the consequent treatment of Hirschsprung's Disease is attached. (5)

After an initial examination her anus was found to be very small. An enema/irrigation treatment was administered on the evening of September 15. An anal dilator-Hegar size 13- was also used. Further similar treatments were made on the morning and in the evening of September 16 and at the same time examinations either to identify the location of faeces in the anus or a vaginal examination were carried out. Father and mother were, in Thai style .suggested, : 'that it was better if we did not accompany the child to the examination room'. Therefore, neither mother nor father were present at these examinations. However when she was returned to the room on the evening of September 16 she was passing stools through her vagina as well as her anus. This had never occurred previously.

The doctor's notes, which are attached, (6) for the morning of September 16 raise, for the first time, the idea that she has a congenital fistula as the irrigation administered on September 16 resulted in a discharge of fluid from the vagina

We took the decision to remove her from the hospital and seek specialist advice. The doctor at **l Hospital wrote a letter outlining the procedures that had been carried out and the diagnosis. A copy of this is attached.(7)

On September 17 she was taken to the ** Hospital where she was examined by Dr. ** He confirmed that her anus was very small and that an internal examination resulted in blood passing from the anus to the vagina. On September 18 he examined her thoroughly and confirmed the presence of the mass of faeces. His diagnosis was that the faeces had possibly been progressively building up since birth; the cause was presently unknown. He performed a vaginascopy and identified that there was a fistula between the vagina and the rectum. He said that :'the fistula is very high up above the hymen.'

He said further that: ' I am astonished at what we found. I have never seen such a thing before. She does not have a congenital fistula but a severe trauma to the vagina and rectum that someone has recently caused'

He therefore performed a colostomy to begin the process of removing the faeces and cleaning the rectum, anus and vagina.

His prognosis is that in two months time he will know if the fistula has closed satisfactorily. If it does not close he will have to operate to try and close it surgically, with the attendant uncertainties of success. Once the fistula is closed he will proceed to identify the precise cause of the build up of faeces and either operate or introduce an appropriate program of treatment to allow normal bowel movements.

She is covered by a medical and life assurance policy in Thailand taken out with ** Life Assurance ltd. An associate company of ** Bank. The fee for treatment on September 15 and 16 at ** Hospital was paid by the Life Assurance Co. A copy of the policy is attached (8)

On September 21 I went to ** Hospital and obtained a copy of her medical history from birth. I spoke briefly with the paediatrician who inquired after her. I told her that she was with her mother and I did not know her current state of health; and that the reason for wanting the notes was so that any hospital we took her to in England or the USA would have her medical history. The paediatrician expressed the opinion that taking her abroad was un-necessary and said: 'that she had suggested to her mother that she take her to C Hospital but he had refused'. This is an untruth. No such suggestion was ever made. Nor is any proposal for referral made in the notes.

The order of statements in the letter from ** Hospital, the medical notes from that hospital, the hitherto unsuggested problem of a fistula, the failure to carry out normal testing for Hirschprung's Disease even though this had been proposed by the Radiologist ,and sudden appearance of faeces in the vagina together with the diagnosis from ** Hospital clearly indicate that the trauma was caused by a doctor or an assistant at ** Hospital and that the sudden diagnosis of a fistula by the doctor at ** Hospital is an attempt to conceal their error.

She has been cared for since birth by her mother, her mother's sister -who is a nurse-, her grandmother and her father. No other person has had access to her without one of the above persons being present until she entered ** Hospital on September 16

On September 25 Dr. ** discharged her from ** Hospital.

He has written a letter, which is attached; together with the pictures from the rectal and vaginal investigations.

This statement is made on October 2 2002 by ** & **

October 2 2002

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