Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome and a Florida “Wrongful Birth” Case

On July 23, 2007 a jury in Tampa awarded Daniel and Amara Estrada $21 million for a prenatal mis-diagnosis. The couple claimed that if the University of South Florida, Dr. Boris Kousseff had successfully diagnosed the genetic disorder, they would have terminated the pregnancy. The jury’s award is currently limited by state limits on negligence claims against public universities and other government agencies.

Greg Dahlmann, in yesterday’s posting on The American Journal of Bioethics’ editors’ blog (blog.bioethics.net) provides a comment on the use of the term "wrongful birth" and a brief summary of the case. blog.bioethics.net links to the following news sources:

Couple awarded $21 million in Florida 'wrongful birth' case. Tampa, Florida (AP). CNN.com/us, July 24, 2007.

For 'wrongful birth,' $23.5M: A jury sides with a family over a USF geneticist's "rotten advice." By Colleen Jenkins, St. Petersburg Times, July 24, 2007.

USF, Physician Liable For Botched Diagnosis. By Thomas W. Krause. The Tampa Tribune, July 24, 2007

A Wrongful Birth? By Elizabeth Weil. The New York Times Magazine, March 12, 2006.

A recent article by Carolyn Chachkin, What potent blood: non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis and the transformation of modern prenatal care, published in the American Journal of Law & Medicine (2007. Vol. 33, No. 1, 9-53) provides a review of the many ethical, legal and social implications of prenatal genetic diagnosis; these include “wrongful birth” lawsuits.