In a so-called "wrongful birth" lawsuit, a Portland, Oregon jury awarded the parents $2.9 million to compensate for the financial burden of their Down syndrome daughter to be paid by the hospital for its faulty prenatal test that didn't detect the abnormality. Although they now say they love this child, the parents claim they certainly would have killed her in the womb if they'd been properly informed during pregnancy.
-- From "Couple awarded $2.9m for 'wrongful birth' of Down syndrome daughter" by NewsCore posted at Herald Sun 3/10/12
Ariel and Deborah Levy say they would have aborted their now four-year-old daughter [Kalanit] had they known about the condition back in 2007.
Initially overjoyed at the birth, they say they were left in a state of shock when hospital staff told them their daughter looked like she had Down syndrome.
A doctor then asked Deborah Levy if she'd had a prenatal test, to which Levy responded in the affirmative - the results of the test had revealed they would have a normal, healthy child.
Within days of her birth, however, a blood test confirmed the little girl had Down syndrome.
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From "Portland-area couple sues Legacy Health for $3 million for 'wrongful birth' after child born with Down syndrome" by Aimee Green, The Oregonian 3/8/12
The Levys filed suit against Legacy Health, claiming that Deborah Levy would have aborted her pregnancy had she known her daughter had the chromosomal abnormality. The lawsuit blames Legacy's Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in North Portland and a Legacy lab for allegedly botching the test. The Levys -- who dearly love their daughter, now 4 -- want Legacy to pay for the extra life-time costs of caring for her. That is estimated at about $3 million.
Experts say such "wrongful birth" cases are extraordinarily rare nationwide, for one, because prenatal tests such as the CVS are as much as 99.7 percent accurate and when they fail, few parents are willing to endure the scrutiny of a legal challenge. But wrongful birth lawsuits may be becoming more common as technology advances, more women in their late 30s or 40s give birth and millions of expectant mothers come to rely on genetic screenings.
Several studies show that more than 89 percent of women who learn they will give birth to a child with Down syndrome choose to terminate their pregnancies.
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From "Wrongful Birth Case in Hands of Jury" by Dave Andrusko, National Right to Life 3/10/12
According to Green, the Levy’s attorney argued
“that Dr. Thomas Jenkins removed maternal tissue — not fetal tissue –from Deborah Levy’s womb. The suit faults Jenkins and lab workers for not recognizing that the tissue was from the mother. The suit also faults Legacy for reassuring her that her baby didn’t have an extra 21st chromosome even though two ultrasounds allegedly raised red flags by showing traits of Down syndrome.”
The attorney for the hospital said the reason only normal cells were found by the CVS test is because
“Kalanit has mosiac Down syndrome — meaning a significant number of her cells don’t contain an extra 21st chromosome. Keating pointed to an analysis of Kalanit’s cells — taken after birth — that showed nearly 31 percent are normal.”
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