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Wrongful life and wrongful birth cases, while not a new concept, are appearing more frequently. These are legal actions in which someone is suing for not being able to prevent the birth of a severely disabled child due to a doctor’s or hospital’s failure to provide the parents with important information about the disability during pregnancy – in other words, that the parents would have aborted the child if they knew that it would be severely disabled. Damages in wrongful life and wrongful birth cases are sought to provide financial compensation for the disabled person and his or her family.

Why are there more of these cases?

Wrongful life and wrongful birth cases were more difficult to litigate in the past because medical technology wasn’t as reliable in disclosing whether an unborn child might suffer from a severe disability. However, medical advances now provide doctors and hospitals with these capabilities and when the medical staff provides expectant parents with false information – the consequences can be substantial.

$23.5 million verdict

A Florida jury recently awarded the parents of two severely disabled children $23.5 million after a doctor misdiagnosed their first child’s disability. That first child was born with defects that included a cleft palate, a small head and an ambiguous gender. A doctor told these parents that their son’s disabilities were caused by environmental factors and were not genetic. Relieved, the couple decided to have another child. However, to their disbelief, their second child was born with the same disabilities as the first.

They sought the advice of another doctor who discovered that the children have a severe genetic disease that has a 25% chance of reoccurrence. They sued the first doctor for negligence and their attorney was able to prove that his level of care was below medical practice standards. The jury awarded the couple with $23.5 million dollars as both children will need around the clock care for the rest of their lives.

Mother implanted with wrong embryo delivers disabled child

In another recent case, a woman with difficulty conceiving decided to have in vitro fertilization. During the process, doctors noticed that the woman was a carrier of Fabry’s disease, which can shorten a person’s lifespan by 20-30 years, increase their chances of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure – among other things. Doctors noticed that two of her male embryos were male and carried the disease, while the other two female embryos did not.

She had the doctors implant the female embryos; however, they mistakenly implanted the male embryos and she delivered a son with Fabry’s disease. She sued the doctor as her son’s medical costs are estimated to be over $100 million. That case is still ongoing.

Experts say that these types of cases represent cutting edge technologies that show just how far genetic testing has come. If you or someone you know had a severely disabled child whose condition was not revealed by medical staff, contact an attorney to evaluate your situation.