Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Syndrome

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

I'm not an attorney. I'm currently in dental risk management and malpractice defense as a litigation claims rep. I used to decide inter company arbitration between insurance companies up to $150,000 and my decisions were binding and not appealable. I still do some mediation stuff, but not all that often. I have currently 2 cases against Miller. He used to be a defense attorney, but has now switched to plaintiff work. Great person and attorney. The other attorney is a giant in local defense work. Really good person and both are consummate professionals.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

You're making a lot of dangerous and inflammable assumptions. I don't that's very fair.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

Lulz stereotypes are fun! I bet if they were in Clark county, they'd be handed some crack! Or if it was clackamas county they'd be handed some dirt with gold spray paint, or washington county some strip malls.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

They charged for the test, they're responsible for it's accuracy and the repercussions of it.

$3 million seems way too little.

The court should also consider banning them from any future testing, since their results are not credible anyway.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

Well, the couple won $2.96 million. Dave gets 40% + expenses, so they will end up with about 55%, or $1.63 million.

I read that 9 states have banned this type of lawsuit as it's too tilted to the plaintiff out of sympathy. I disagree with the ban (for obvious reasons) but can certainly understand why after this case. Also, this case is going to make it very hard for insurance companies to continue and cover for this stuff. It'll be interesting to see what the repercussions will be.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

I'm sure the test has margins of error, and is deemed a certain percentage accurate (say 99%). If the parents have that test run they should assume the risk of there being an error, in this case 1%. So long as the hospital/doctor administering the test didn't negligently mess up the results the parents shouldn't see a dime.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

You two should have read the article before spouting off. It was negligence all the way. The 99% estimate is for when the test is done correctly, not for when it's done wrong in 3 tests..

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

No test is infallible. The couple should have just aborted the kid when the first screening showed a possibility for Down's. It's obvious they don't want it, and want others to pay for their own genetic deficiencies.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

Are you drinking again? Still haven't read the article. Dumbest. Post. Of the. Year..

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

Actually you're incorrect. Also there's a wide margin of the test itself being inaccurate even if performed correctly.

But what I find interesting is that here is a test that has a huge margin for error (+ or -) and in this case (as in many others) the test indicated a greater chance of no Downs than yes Downs. The kid had Downs so the parents sued. It brings into play both morality and greed.

So if they had tested for athletic ability with a 35% margin for error and the kid couldn't dribble anything but food, is the maker of the test or the entity that administered the test "negligent" to the extent of malpractice?

There is a dangerous precedent set here by the Peoples Republic Of Multnomah County jury. The implications may be felt far and wide. Were I a hospital administrator I'd immediately cease all types of tests of all types to determine anything about the baby aside from ultrasound to determine breach... just prior to delivery If people want to know the sex ahead of time or anything else whatsoever, too bad. And if I were an insurance carrier, I'd immediately cease covering anything like this as well.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

This is why I said we're becoming too litigious of a society. They only people it helps are the people getting the big pay outs because they're the only ones that can afford the big price hikes in medical expenses that come as a result of having to defend these types of cases. Less lawsuits, lower insurance rates (theoretically anyway). There's always a chance insurance companies would be the money grubbing entities everyone says they are.

Curious, Blazer Prophet, how'd you get into your line of work. It sounds interesting.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

Gee, why don't hospitals, or some other organization, provide every couple with a disabled child with cash? That way, they are less of a burden on our society/government?

If you choose to have a child, it should be your responsibility to take care of, and provide for, that child.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

Lulz on you calling the reference a stereotype. I was simply responding to another poster's assertion that history shows, cases like this in Multnomah County side in favor of the plaintiff. I didn't say if it were in any other county, it would be any different. I don't pay attention to those counties. Just simply, I agree that if history is an indication (some people say history is the best indicator of the future), the couple would win.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

The short story is that I have a degree in aeronautics. I chose to live where I wanted and work outside my career field rather than live where I didn't want to and work in my career field. So I drifted into insurance claims (although I'm slightly anti insurance) and worked the field in Klamath & Lake county for years. Took a few years off to work social services (mostly with homeless & incarcerated vets), got laid off and came back to claims where I focused on claims litigation. Due to some extra CE and other training I became an arbitrator settling disputes between insurance companies and eventually made my way to the top rung where I settled cases up to $150K (the gig was voluntary and the extra hours were too long so I stopped a few years ago). I got fed up with how insurance companies were treating people and took a job specializing in dental/medical malpractice claims and dental risk management. I also do a wee bit of commercial property and subrogation claims. I handle most mediation cases in OR/WA/AZ/MT. It's interesting work and I get to see the real side of medical/dental malpractice stuff. In all honesty, only about 10% of the cases actually reach true "malpractice". The rest are either "pay us $50K or go to trial for $150K", nut jobs, revenge for turning patients over to collections, and some are not malpractice but large sympathy factors or at least debatable points (that still don't reach the level of malpractice). Currently on my desk is the nations first murder/suicide dental malpractice case. Heart breaking and fascinating.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

I was responding to posts opposing the couple, which claimed that since the test is so accurate, the couple doesn't have a leg to stand on. Now you say the posters were wrong and the test is unreliable. Well, then you negated a couple of your compatriots in this thread, and the couple should sue the hospital to eliminate the test. Lawsuit either way.

89% of people in this situation abort because the child will be similar to a baby till he's 20, will be similar to a 5-year old the rest of his life, and will need a lot of money for care after they're dead. The choice is between ending the fetus' life or ending your own, for all practical purposes.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

That sounds really interesting. I've graduated from law school and am awaiting bar results and my dad is a dentist. What you do is a nice combo of those things. And you didn't have to pay ridiculous law school tuition to do it. It sounds like the reality of malpractice is what I thought it is -- A lot of settlements just to get people out of their hair.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

You may be a nice kid now but soon you will be given way too much power and become an asshole.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

Oh.

 

Re: Portland couple sues Legacy Health $3 million for their Child Born with Down Synd

Actually, that's really it when it comes to medical malpractice lawsuits. Plaintiff attorneys test the resolve of insurance carriers as to whether or not they want to spend $150,000 to go to trial or just pony up some money along the way. Insurance companies test the plaintiff's resolve by aptly demonstrating the weakness of their case and whether or not they want to spend $6-20,000 putting on a trial. Most the costs are for experts. That said, more often than not if they lose or the case is dismissed they stiff the money owed to the expert(s) and laugh about it. That's why plaintiffs often have a hard time finding quality experts unless they have the money to put into it up front. And poor people who may have a righteous case but no money are really up against the eight ball- although those usually settle out fairly quickly.