‘Wrongful Birth’ Suit Brings Parents $2.9M for Care

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doctors  The parents of a four-year-old Oregon girl with Down syndrome were awarded $2.9 million after doctors misdiagnosed their daughter as not having the condition during a prenatal screening.

Ariel and Deborah Levy of Portland, Ore., filed a “wrongful birth” lawsuit against Legacy Health System, claiming that they would have terminated the pregnancy had they known they would have a special-needs child.

The Levys said the doctors were “negligent in their performance, analysis and reporting” of test results after their child was born as well.

“It’s been difficult for them,” said David K. Miller, the Levy’s lawyer,according to ABC News affiliate KATU. “There’s been a lot of misinformation out there.

“These are parents who love this little girl very, very much,” Miller said. “Their mission since the beginning was to provide for her and that’s what this is all about.”

The $2.9 million will cover the estimated extra lifetime costs of caring for someone with Down syndrome.

After the decision was announced, Legacy Health issued a statement that read, “While Legacy Health has great respect for the judicial process, we are disappointed in today’s verdict. The legal team from Legacy Health will be reviewing the record and considering available options. Given this, we believe that further comment at this point would not be appropriate.”

Types of Genetic Testing

It’s unclear what type of genetic testing the couple underwent. Genetic counselors say there are different types of screening options, including amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, and an ultrasound combined with blood testing.

A blood test with an ultrasound will only predict the risk of developing Down syndrome or other genetic abnormalities, said Virginia Carver, a prenatal genetic counselor at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.

Amniocentesis will determine whether or not a child has Down syndrome and is considered the “gold standard” of testing, Carver said. That test is typically about 99 percent accurate.

“But even the most accurate test isn’t 100 percent accurate,” she said. “There is a small percentage of chance that the testing might not be correct because of human error.”

{ABC News/Matzav.com Newscenter}


5 COMMENTS

  1. Give them the benefit of the doubt? You don’t think that a Down child, and his family (think of the siblings and of the distant future) can use 2.9 millions, just to make life more bearable? They sued, they won, mazal tov. By the way a Down person has life expectation of 70+ (long term money) if they have proper heart surgery (moneyy), can learn to read, write, have a job and keep it if properly taught (moneyy….. or you think you get this in public school? Those where healthy kids are turned into criminals?), can have an apartment by themselves with some domestic help (moneyy)…. or, we all know the other option.

  2. This lawsuit reminds me of a case that went to court after the second world war. A certain man had bought from (maybe it was a jew) a pill that was to supposed be poison to let whoever takes it die. This man thought all was lost and took the pill; and then the unexpected happened, the war ended. The pill was a fake and the man didn’t die from it. After the war he went on to sue the person who sold him the fake pill. In the court, the man to whom the fake pill, won the case. He walked out of the court and than dropped dead.(maybe it was a heart attack- I don’t remember the exact details.)

  3. Logic your story does not seem to be completely logic. Did the war end a few minutes after the person took the pill? In Europe there were snipers for weeks after the armistice, yet since beginning of 1945 the outcome of the war was pretty clear, leading corrupt officers to negotiate with prisoners. It is obvious that this hypotetical person was well-off, otherwise he would not have had access to those substances, nor would he have been able to sue just after the war. Besides, had the pill failed when the war was still ongoing, the man would have sought alternative suicide methods.

    I understand some stories have some moral value, but that does not make them factual.

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