Hello- I am seeking legal advice for my sister and her husband. My healthy, 29year old sister gave birth to a son one week ago. We were all shocked and devasted to learn that her baby was born with Down Syndrome. Although there were a few suspicious tests during her pregnancy that suggested the chance of Down Syndrome, she was reassured that the doctors were 99.7% sure that the baby would not have Downs. As a precaution, my sister was sent to a specialist who was responsible for thoroughly checking on the baby through sonograms, etc. The doctor also placed the baby into a heart study. Each visit, the doctor ended the appointment by telling my sister that the heart looked great, was beating strong, etc. There were times where the doctor said things like "I'd like to have a better look over on this side of the heart but the baby isn't in a good spot right now....I'll see you next week." The specialist never gave my sister or her husband any indication that there was a problem of any kind. Now, my sisters baby needs to have open heart surgery to close holes in his heart but more critically, he was born with only one large valve in the center of the top of his heart rather than two smaller valves on each side of the heart. The baby has been in the hospital for a week already and he cannot be removed from oxygen as his weak heart is not sufficiently pumping oxygenated blood where it needs to go. The surgery is to take place within the next two to three months while we wait for the baby to get stronger. On the same day that the baby was born, he had to be transferred to a higher level hospital because the hospital where he was born could not care for a baby with this type of cardiac issues. My sister and her husband could have avoided the need to transfer the baby from one hospital to another after the babies birth and they could have been prepared for the challenges that they were going to face if the doctors caring for her did their jobs properly. My sister gave birth at 6:41 am and was released from the hospital in less than 11 hours because she wanted to be near the baby when he was transferred. If she had know that the baby was going to have a weak heart, she could have delivered in the hospital where the baby was transferred and then received the adequate rest and medical care that a new mother needs. This has been physically taxing and it has been an emotional nightmare. The financial nightmare of it all is about to begin. Do you think that there is a law suit here?

Thank you,
Donna

Discuss with a Lawyer but keep in mind Doctors are not God and are not perfect. I feel for your family but I do not see any malpractice here.

Well I can surely understand how frustrating this situation must be for your family. First, congratulations on the birth of the new baby! I can understa d you have all been anticipating this situation for so long. It is so confusing to be confronted with the challenges presnted by Downs Syndrome and the heart problems and I definitey give my support to your family. Whether or not the doctor's inability to know that particular diagonses is dependent upon the particular facts of the medical history and care. You can certainly try to speak to an attorney regarding whether or not there are any legal bases upon which malpractice could be implied.... supposing the doctor somehow should have known the outcome. I understand you are looking for answers and this must be such a challenging situation. I wish I could offer you more support, but malpractice is a highly fact-specific situation and the full history would need to be reviewed by an attorney. I do know, though, that even with the best possible care, and the best possible doctor, and the best possible family.... there can be unanticipated circumstances with any procedure, including the birth of a beautiful new baby.

For your reference, you can find more information about an attorney through the locator service on LawInfo's home page at: http://www.lawinfo.com/.

All my best, and please feel free to return to the forum with any additional questions you may have.