A lady in Oakland County, Michigan is suing her doctor for the stress caused by an unplanned pregnancy. The doctor had told her that she would never be able to get pregnant, but somehow she did. The child has Down syndrome.
In 2008, Lori Cichewicz went to get her tubes tied. The doctor told her that her fallopian tubes were blocked so she couldn’t get pregnant. She was also told she didn’t need birth control. Three years later Lori became pregnant. She is suing the doctor for damages for the emotional distress caused by the unplanned pregnancy.
The case is going to trial within the next few months unless the doctor settles before that. Fox legal analyst Charlie Langton, said:
“This is really very close to a medical malpractice case. That’s really essentially what it is.”
“The stress associated with thinking about of having to be pregnant or being pregnant when she didn’t want to be pregnant are the only damages. It’s not the fact she is going to get money for having to raise a Down syndrome child, the court already said no.”
Cichewicz said that she wanted to give birth but never wanted to be pregnant. I don’t think that’s a thing. She needs to go back to biology class.
She is 50-years-old so she worries that she won’t be around for her daughter when she is older:
“I’m older, I don’t know, will I see her graduate college? Will I see her go to college? Will I see her get married? Will I see her graduate high school? All this is going through my mind.”
“Wrongful conception” is used when a doctor gives poor contraception advice or messes up a sterilization procedure.
Here is an explanation of those terms from a law-related academic paper:
“Internationally case law has developed in regard to actions which in due course were given the following labels. “Wrongful pregnancy” or “wrongful conception” for cases where a healthy but unwanted child is born, following negligent contraceptive advice by a doctor or a negligent sterilization or abortion procedure, and the parents claim damages; ‘wrongful birth’ where such a claim is brought by the parents of an abnormal or disabled child; ‘wrongful life’ where a claim is brought by or on behalf of the abnormal or disabled child itself.”
