Portland Couple Awarded $2.9M in Wrongful Birth Case

**FlaGator** · 03-14-2012, 01:58 PM

It seems we now have lemon laws for our children as well as our cars...

A jury in Portland, Ore., awarded a couple $2.9 million dollars on Friday for the "wrongful birth" of their daughter who has Down syndrome.

Kalanit Levy was born in June of 2007 to Ariel and Deborah Levy, after prenatal testing did not reveal any abnormalities.

The Levys' attorney said Dr. Thomas Jenkins removed maternal tissue – instead of the fetal tissue – from Deborah Levy's womb which resulted in faulty test readings. The suit also faults the medical center for reassuring Deborah Levy that her baby didn't have an extra 21st chromosome.

The couple says they would have had an abortion had the test been done properly and they had known about the Down syndrome.

It wasn't until a few days after Kalanit's birth that a blood test confirmed that the little girl had the genetic disorder. And now, four years later, the Levys are suing the hospital to pay for the extra costs of caring for their daughter.
The Levys said in the suit that they worry about future medical problems and their daughter's ability to interact with others. They have been told by experts that Kalanit will most likely not be able to live on her.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/po...d-child-71287/

**Apache** · 03-14-2012, 04:24 PM

that is money grubbing at its worst. sickening....

**FlaGator** · 03-14-2012, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by Apache

that is money grubbing at its worst. sickening....

These people have no business being parents to anyone.

**Madisonian** · 03-14-2012, 06:58 PM

Does that mean I can sue the doctors that gave us Obama, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, Joe Biden and Bill Maher?
Those are some true wrongful births.

**Zeus** · 03-14-2012, 07:23 PM

Possible abortion aside, the couple does have a Justifiable suit under the law.

I don't see how at such a young age they can already decree the child will never be able to take care of itself.

my brothers DS son lives in a I suppose you'd call it assisted care facility. He lives in his own apartment but there are medical & social services staff on site to give assistance when needed.

My Brother & his wife were told there son would never walk or talk or show any signs of awareness of the world around him. Sure he is mentally simple minded which in itself isn't nec a bad thing. His mind isn't warped by such things that usually affects the so called normal mind. You got to be careful what you ask him because he always gives an honest non nuanced answer.

Now my older sisters DS son is in his own little world and comes out to join the world around him in variable intervals and babbles in a tongue only my sis understands.

yes 2 down syndrome children in the same family. No blood connection though as my older sis had a different father.

**noonwitch** · 03-15-2012, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by Zeus

Possible abortion aside, the couple does have a Justifiable suit under the law.

I don't see how at such a young age they can already decree the child will never be able to take care of itself.

my brothers DS son lives in a I suppose you'd call it assisted care facility. He lives in his own apartment but there are medical & social services staff on site to give assistance when needed.

My Brother & his wife were told there son would never walk or talk or show any signs of awareness of the world around him. Sure he is mentally simple minded which in itself isn't nec a bad thing. His mind isn't warped by such things that usually affects the so called normal mind. You got to be careful what you ask him because he always gives an honest non nuanced answer.

Now my older sisters DS son is in his own little world and comes out to join the world around him in variable intervals and babbles in a tongue only my sis understands.

yes 2 down syndrome children in the same family. No blood connection though as my older sis had a different father.

I don't know any medical testing of this sort that guarantees 100% accuracy. The parents in this case are just looking for money-probably because they feel they will need it to provide for their child's care, but I'll bet they still apply for SSI for the child, even with their settlement (SSI is not always dependent on one's income when it comes to handicapped children).

I befriended a woman at the pool who has Down's. She has a great life. She lives with her parents, and they hired an aide to take her places like the pool. She takes the water aerobics class, which is usually going on at the time that I'm swimming laps. Everyone at the pool loves her, the other ladies and the life guards.

**Odysseus** · 03-15-2012, 02:00 PM

The wrongful birth concept is obscene, but that doesn't absolve the doctors of some serious malpractice. By taking the wrong tissue, the misdiagnosed a case and failed to disclose the condition of the fetus to the parents. That's wrong, and they ought to be held accountable, but to claim that a birth is somehow "wrongful" puts us on some seriously dangerous ground.

**Starbuck** · 03-15-2012, 03:41 PM

What do they want, a retroactive abortion?

But, come to think of it, if abortions were legally retroactive till the age of 13 it would sure make the 5th grade class a lot quieter.

**Zeus** · 03-15-2012, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by noonwitch

I don't know any medical testing of this sort that guarantees 100% accuracy. The parents in this case are just looking for money-probably because they feel they will need it to provide for their child's care, but I'll bet they still apply for SSI for the child, even with their settlement (SSI is not always dependent on one's income when it comes to handicapped children).

I befriended a woman at the pool who has Down's. She has a great life. She lives with her parents, and they hired an aide to take her places like the pool. She takes the water aerobics class, which is usually going on at the time that I'm swimming laps. Everyone at the pool loves her, the other ladies and the life guards.

The Drs. tested the wrong Tissue.

I'm not saying i agree with the case but they did have legal standing. It is what it is.

my brothers son is quite the comedian. The humor is in what he says due to an innocence of mind and purity of heart.

**noonwitch** · 03-15-2012, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by Zeus

The Drs. tested the wrong Tissue.

I'm not saying i agree with the case but they did have legal standing. It is what it is.

my brothers son is quite the comedian. The humor is in what he says due to an innocence of mind and purity of heart.

I didn't catch that part of it.

My supervisor says that people with Down's Syndrome are "God's Clowns".