PROFESSIONWrongful birth case crosses state linesThe child was born in Maryland, but a genetic test was interpreted in North Carolina. A court will decide which state's law applies.By Amy Lynn Sorrel, amednews staff. Sept. 4, 2006. A Maryland couple alleges that if it weren't for the erroneous interpretation of a fetal test for cystic fibrosis by two geneticists at North Carolina-based Laboratory Corporation of America, they would have aborted the child who was born with the disease. Karen and Scott Hood filed a wrongful birth lawsuit against the company, seeking to recover money to cover the costs of caring for an ill child. But they've run into a problem that an increasing number of couples could face: Maryland, where they live, recognizes parents' right to recover damages for the wrongful birth of a child; North Carolina, where the lab performed the tests, does not. Not surprisingly, the couple wants Maryland's law to apply; the company wants North Carolina's to apply. In a preliminary ruling in June, U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake asked the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, to resolve the conflict. Oral arguments are expected to take place in the fall. "Indeed if a medical testing company were only subject to the laws of the state in which the actual testing was conducted, and not the laws of the state in which its patients were located, medical testing companies would have an incentive to locate in states that provide the most protection to the company and the least protection to patients," Blake wrote. The decision, legal experts say, could mean more litigation for doctors if these cases are allowed to reach across state lines. "As genetic technologies improve and we have more sophisticated kinds of testing, the legal structures are breaking down," said attorney Susan L. Crockin, a legal expert on reproductive genetics and a consultant to the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University. The center studies human genetics and the related ethical, legal and social concerns. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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