Mother wins damage claim over lack of test for Down syndrome

Seattle P-I ^ | Thursday, January 30, 2003 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- A woman who said she would have had an abortion had she known her daughter would be born with Down syndrome has been awarded $10,000 (U.S.$6,500).

Dr. Ken Kan of suburban Richmond was negligent in failing to send Liu-Ling "Lydia" Zhang for an expedited amniocentesis, a procedure that likely would have detected the chromosome defect that causes the condition, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Michael Catliff ruled this week.

Zhang, 42, a business operator with homes in Vancouver and Hong Kong, testified during a 15-day trial last November that she was devastated after her daughter Sherry was born on April 29, 1997.

Zhang said her husband, Simon Fung, could not accept that she had given birth to a retarded child and having Sherry "totally disrupted our plans."

The couple, who had been married a month, began to quarrel and their marriage fell apart within a few months.

Catliff found Kan negligent for failing to arrange the amniocentesis on short notice but ruled that Zhang and Fung contributed to the situation, reducing the damages he awarded to each by 50 percent.

Fung was awarded $20,000 (U.S.$13,000) in damages and $295,000 (U.S.$191,750) for of Sherry's future care.

Fung, 49, a U.S. citizen, now lives in Los Angeles with his second wife, Monica Han, and three children, including Sherry.

Catliff described Han as "a patient and loving caregiver" who has been Sherry's principal parent for the last 2 1/2 years, mainly because Fung goes abroad for long periods in his work as a trade consultant.

Zhang has seen her daughter eight times in the last five years.

Zhang first saw Kan when she was in her 17th week of pregnancy. He contradicted her testimony that she would have had an abortion rather than bear a Down syndrome baby.

Most women over 35 are advised to have an amniocentesis test around the 17th week to check for potential birth defects. For a woman of 37, Zhang's age when Sherry was conceived, the chance of bearing a child with Down syndrome is about one in 220.

In an earlier British Columbia case, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld damages to parents for future care of child born with Down syndrome because of a doctor's negligence in failing to get the mother an amniocentesis.

In that case, however, the high court ruled that the parents' duty to care for their child ends when the child is 19 years old.

Different standards applied in Zhang and Fung's case because California law makes the parents responsible for care of their disabled children until the parents die.

[ReaganandDubyaForever]

Very, very sad.....

[seams2me]

better kill this woman, before she reproduces again. Pre emptive abortion, I like to call it.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Zhang said...having Sherry "totally disrupted our plans." Zhang has seen her daughter eight times in the last five years.

Her daughter is worth far more than the piece of trash who bore her.

[APBaer]

"better kill this woman"

So, your cause has now graduated from shooting doctors
( in the back) and bombing clinics?

[Aunt Polgara]

Different standards applied in Zhang and Fung's case because California law makes the parents responsible for care of their disabled children until the parents die.

Severely disabled children can be institutionalized at state expense here in CA, so this article is rather deceptive.

[APBaer]

Since you seem to think the doctor should not have to pay anything
for his negligence, what portion of the $295,000 verdict will you be sending to him, sport?

[seams2me]

sorry, I forgot to put "/sarcasm" at the end of my post.

[stainlessbanner]

having Sherry "totally disrupted our plans."

That's an entirely selfish and sad statement for a mother to say.

[petuniasevan]

So having a "special needs" child was inconVEEEEEEnient, huh? I sure hope you got your tubes tied. Worms like you don't deserve to have children.

Too bad that because your daughter is "damaged goods", she doesn't have any value to you. Everyone has value, and no mother, father, doctor, lawyer, or government can change that. One day you will regret your actions, guaranteed.

[petuniasevan]

PING

[MHGinTN]

Thank you for the ping. I'll ping you back in a sec.

[speekinout]

This woman gave birth to a Down's child, gave her to the father to raise, rarely sees the child, and gets an award for that??
I hope she has huge child support payments.

[babygene]

It's sad for the child, however killing the child is not the answer. That's still murder...

Are you aware that parents that are informed that they may be at risk of giving birth to a doewns's syndrome baby are less likely to abort than the parents with normal children?

When my son and daughter-in-law were informed that they were at risk because of her age, my daughter-in-law responded: If your only solution is abortion, we don't need to spend the money for the test. I was very proud of her that day...

The baby was beautifull, and at 8 months is walking and doing contract programing for a local firm...

[Schnucki]

Since you seem to think the doctor should not have to pay anything for his negligence, what portion of the $295,000 verdict will you be sending to him, sport?

You sure got a thing for spending other people's money. Seems like there's a future for you in the democrat party, sport.

[luckystarmom]

I'd have the test just so that I could be prepared when the child is born. I'd rather get adjusted to the fact before the baby is born, then have to care for a special needs baby and work through the emotional shock.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Since you seem to think the doctor should not have to pay anything for his negligence, what portion of the $295,000 verdict will you be sending to him, sport?

Sport? Let me guess, you are middle aged, short, and balding. I'm right, aren't I? It's been a long time since that kind of language wasn't hopelessly dated, and those that still use it tend not to be the most attractive of the breed.

About the sum, he is probably insured for almost all of it. This means you will probably end up paying for as much of it as I will. The "you should have told me to abort my child" or the "my parents should have aborted me" claim is frivolous to it's core. The outcome of this kind of lawsuit surviving appeal (and so for they haven't in the U.S.) would be for a generalized C.Y.A. recommendation by all doctors that all women kill their pregnancies. Under current precedent, even the most negligent doctor can't be sued for recommending an unnecessary abortion. Either way, we will all be paying for at least the legal fees related to Ms. Zhang's terrible hardship for many years to come.

[APBaer]

Even an idiot could see, by elementary reading, that it is the poster rather than I who is loose with other peoples money and wants others to be stuck for the negligence of the lawyer.

I am sorry that you are not up to that level of reading comprehension, but fear not, swim in Shinola and there's a chance for you at the University of Michigan, sport.

[TheDon]

I'm glad the kid will never understand what kind of parents she was born to.

[APBaer]

" Let me guess, you are middle aged, short, and balding.
I'm right, aren't I?"

You got me sport.
Hell!
They said I couldn't get in trouble if I just stayed in my "undisclosed location."