BP Oil Spill Claims Chief Braces for Surge in Filings
N.Y. Regulator Issues ‘Cease and Desist’ Order to Car-Sharing Firm RelayRides
Tornadoes Spin Through Texas Towns After Dark, Killing Six
U.S., European Retailers Divided on Safety Plan for Bangladesh Factories
Government to Share Cyber Security Information with Private Sector
50 Top Apps for Independent Agents
Medical Liability Market Profitable But Deteriorating Results Expected: Fitch
Three Insurance Companies Placed in Liquidation in IllinoisFree Newsletters
Sign up to receive insurance news alerts!Most Popular
Current Issue
Editors and Contributors
-
Andrea WellsAgency Compensation Playbook: 2013 Agency Salary Survey -
Andrew G. SimpsonHow Process Improvement Drives Agency Profitability -
Stephanie JonesThe Acquisition Cycle -
Don JerglerIndustry Predictions -
Chris BurandReasonable Compensation -
Andrea WellsPersonal Lines: How Technology is Changing the Way Agents Do Business
The Evans’ are suing because they weren’t given enough information to convince them to abort their fetus? I hope their child sues them later for something. Sickening.
No she would not have aborted this baby.
WOW!! This kids needs to grow up and live with this now???
Hope their child lives long enough to read about their parents desire to have never given birth to them. What sad, selfish people they are.
Ungrateful and selfish…how about loving the gift you’ve been given?
Coming form someone who has tried for 3 years to get pregnant, this story is sad & disgusting to me. If the average age of death is 37, how about cherishing those few years you do have with the child
We only had our “healthy” son with us for 24 years and lost him due to a motorcycle accident. I would have gladly had him for 37, even with CF!
What kind of a person feels the need to sue their doctor because they decide their child isn’t good enough for them? How sick and twisted is that?
I’d like to sue the Evans for impersonating a human being. Any lawyers want the case?
I am gratified to see so many similar comments from Insurance people. I doubt we’d see the same pattern in the LA Times or NYT. It says a lot about modern man that, while spending billions on our animal pets (and other non-necessities), a large proportion of the population does not understand that human life is an unalienable right. 90% of kids with Down Syndrom are aborted; and far more children are aborted because they are essentially inconvenient. As we pass people on the street more than a quarter of them have aborted a child. We might as well worship Baal.
this poor kid has to live with the knowledge that his parents didnt want him/her? Perhaps we dont want these “parents” – how would they like it if society chose to get rid of them because they lack compassion and humanity?
I’m sorry, “they weren’t ready emotionally or financially to take care of a sick child” who the h$ll is???, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard… and who are they to get to decide what constitutes quality of life… and I am talking about the child’s, NOT their own… how selfish and disheartening of them, I only hope that their child will cause a change in the hearts and they will be good to the child and he/she will have a full and wonderful life and god willing this story will never make it into the child’s hands when he/she is older…
I hope the courts throw this out. One of my best friends had CF–she lived until she was 29. I cherish the time I had with her.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Huge ethical dilemma. The parents swear on the Bible and commit perjury by saying they would have aborted? They live the child’s entire life hoping she never finds out that they swore to God they didn’t want her. If she finds out they explain they did it for the money? Granted the money to pay the bills but still.
I am so disgusted that people think that birth defects now are a cause for a big pay day. If they really don’t want the child or cant afford to care for it, they can give it up for adoption to someone or and agency more fitting to be a parent. And I sincerely hope that woman is sterile and can’t conceive again.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Who is to be the advocate for the child? It has no chance with out a LOVING mother, which obviously this woman is not.
How do we know what this child can and cannot do. For all we know in this approximate 37 years this child has, they may cure cancer, solve the economy issues or change the world. I am so against selective pregnancies.
So they don’t love their child because he is handicapped? How awful that is-I hope their child never finds out they would rather have aborted him.
i read the first 2 sentences of that article and thought “i cannot wait to see the comments about obama and santorum” and you guys really disappointed me. WTH?
I hope the court does dismiss this case.
The case reflects several deep philosophical questions that it is not in the province of a court to resolve. No child asks to be made. He or she cannot choose his or her parents, nor decide when to become a living being. Nor can the child choose his or her genes, nor determine what assets and liabilities he or she will bring into this world.
When the plaintiff couple climbed into bed together, they assumed the liability for their romp in the hay together, fully aware that there are thousands of trying outcomes that might result, and that some may be expensive.
It is not the province of the nurse to play God and recommend the termination of a life on the basis of a single test that indicates there may be a concern to be evaluated. Nor should she make a diagnosis. That is the province of someone else, and, thank God, he is not saddled with a requirement he must play God and try to second guess the outcome of the pregnancy. If he were, there would be fewer OBGYN specialists.
No child gets to choose the parents, nor decide what future he or she will have. All the child can hope for is that he or she will be loved and cared for. It is not the fault of the medical profession that some parents do not accept the responsibility for being loving and caring.
I know how hard it can be. I fathered a son, a wonderful boy, but he had cerebral palsy and could not walk or talk. We had to care for him night and day for the 26 years he lived. And, he loved life. He loved music. He loved companionship. He loved his brothers, and they returned his love. My sons so loved their brother that each named one of their children after him.
I had hoped civilization was progressing. Maybe not always. Some still revert to those ancient Greeks who took their handicapped offspring out onto the rocks and left them for the buzzards.
I will say this: because of Chris and his disabilities, my other sons became better men than they might have otherwise have been. And his parents became involved with humanity and its needs in ways that we would not have without his having been a part of our lives. Because of him, a new standard for healthcare for developmentally disabled children was established in California, one that has become a model for many countries in this world.
Something never comes out of nothing. If nothing is what parents have in their hearts, nothing is what is going to be their legacy to the world. If their hearts are full of love and caring, yes, and reverence for life, they will leave this world a better place than they found it.
What positive results can anyone hope will come from a lawsuit against caregivers as described in your article. Can anyone with a straight face make a list? Those who bring such suits should be ashamed to show up in court, much less to prosecute such allegations.
Our doctors and nurses are not Gods. We do not want them to play God. We want them to feel free to be kind, caring, loving, and professional with us to the best of their ability. We cannot ask more than that. They are but men and women like us, but men and women we have saddled with an expectation that we can have them on call 24/7 365 days a year to console us in our worries, our aches, and our pains.
Thank you for sharing your story, Claude. Your post was amazing and in my humble opinion, said it all.
I thank you too for sharing your heart-felt story, Claude. I have cousin who has Downs Syndrome. He’s in his 50s now and a wonderful grown man. His parents, I am positive, would have agreed with every word you had written.
Many blessings to you and your family.
Claude, what a wonderfully poignant story. I have never read such a moving statement on these pages. One question for all, however… who are the two heartless, sad souls who “disliked” this post?!
Thanks, Claude, for your wisdom and your witness.
†
I feel for the many good parents of kids with CF who have to read about this story. There are many parents who have loved and sometimes suffered through CF over the years to see their kids grow to happy and fulfilling lives while dealing with this serious illness. I hope for them that this story does not get much press.
I feel even sorrier for their child who will be cognizant of this lawsuit someday.
Not only should this case be thrown out, but she should also be forced to give up her child. Many many parents are surprised, and sometimes disappointed, at the outcome of their child’s birth- Down’s, autism, etc., but they love the child and deal with it. This seems to illustrate to me that there is no love there. I would be afraid this would be an abusive, or at least negligent, household for this child. Shame on these people and shame on their lawyer!
They should be forced to give up the child? Did you think that one through? Who’s going to care for it? Do you expect the taxpayers to foot the medical bills?
Nothing in the article says they don’t love their child. This lawsuit may their way of getting the money to care for the child. As many people pointed out, it is extremely expensive to care for a child with CF.
Folks
Regardless of what you think and what you would do or Claude did, these parents were doing the testing to avoid bringing a child with handicaps into the world. They did it in the very inception of the pregnancy…and it is their right to do so. They clearly had their reasons and apparently made this decision as a couple.
This does NOT mean that now that the child is born, and theirs, that they do not love him/her and will do their utmost to assure a loving and caring environment. I do not see how you all can draw the inferences that you are drawing and condemning them for being unloving parents from the detail here provided.
Everyone is sitting around complaining at the high cost of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, regardless of whether you are “conservative” or “liberal.” This child will now be probably permanently disabled and eligible for SS from birth. If the parents do not have medical insurance, the costs will be borne via Medicare and/or Medicaid. If the parent has insurance, and loses his/her job and coverage, do you think that before the much maligned Obamacare that they would be able to get a private insurer to cover their family or this child? Guess again. Think it through. Regardless of how the medical needs of this child are paid, the taxpayer or the insurance premium payor will pay for it. We will ALL pay in some form or another…and we all agree that costs and premiums are too high and something must be done.
I personally think that these parents were trying to do a socially responsible thing which is within the (secular) law and within their rights.
This may not be the path that everyone choses, but this is the one they chose. They should have the unabridgeable right to do this before the fetus is independently viable.
As far as the lawsuit goes, we do not have nearly the amount of information to determine if we feel it is warranted or not. If the parents endured the testing to avoid disabling birth defects, perhaps the hospital should have tested for everything available But then, the parents should have educated themselves on what tests were available and then requested them all. We don’t know.
I agree with you on your point that they should have the unabridgeable right to make the choice before the fetus is independently viable.
How this is being responded to is primarily emotional. People are people… we may like them and their actions, or not. We may approve of their lifestyles or not. The bottom line is that what these parents have to live with is theirproblem. Good or bad, it’s theirs and no one else’s. When the populous gets involved due to a ripple in the water and privacy is no longer an individual right, judgements are cast, stones are thrown and heads usually will roll in the form of a verbal onslught of massive proportion.
Now, I may not agree with the choice they made… however, I’m not in their shoes to judge.
Anne Marie, you are so three-dimensional.
¿What does time-sequence have to do with it? Life begins at conception — even atheists understand this if they’re scientifically literate. Think about it from a logical, moral perspective: If it were possible for me to go back in time and off my child, then — as long as it’s painless — I ought to be able to do it when he’s one, or five, or ten (even in the absence of time travel).
[The law is absolutely wrong to say that we have a right to kill our unborn children. I suppose we should limit our comments to those related to insurance, but you brought in the viability argument, so I hereby express my disagreement.]
Just one point to make…Even animals don’t give up their young….
Yes, but some do eat their young..
Perhaps these parents should take some lessons from a high school friend of mine: http://www.sfmaggie.blogspot.com
Maggie was born with CP and a host of other disabilities – ironically, her mother, my high school classmate, gave up her career to care for her daughter. Ironically, she is an attorney.
We should all have parents that care as much!!
These people disgust me!
I am a 28 year old adult with Cystic Fibrosis. Yes this is a hard disease to live with but there are advancements being made all the time to treat CF.
If this is the reaction these ‘parents’ gave when they received the news of their child being positive fo CF then they don’t even deserve to have a child period.
Clearly these people should not be parents. I can see their argument because of how painful and inconvenient this disease can be on the patient and patient’s family members, but maybe the parents both should have had the cystic fibrosis blood work done prior to conception to see if they carried this recessive trait. A malpractice lawsuit is not the answer to their ignorance and blame game. What a waste of money for all parties involved.
Crazy, Read Wikipedia on CF and see that the treatment has made it so that most live a pretty full life now. I cannot imagine killing my baby because it would be expensive or hard on me. I would rather spend 15 years with my child and get to know them and love them, than have them killed and not get to know them at all.
Where’s Child Protective Services? Hope he / she grows up to be a great leader!
LOOK WHERE THIS ATTITUDE GOT HITLER…
I would not so quickly judge the parents by the reported newspaper information, pro or con. Also I am not so sure this is a question of wanting a perfect infant rather than concern over life-threatening defects, etc. IF these readers must judge then look at the use of abortion per se for reasons other than medical. Wow, are we quick to judge or what?
Abort the parents.
All I can say is any parent emotionally or financially ready to take care of a child with an illness. At the age of 16 my son was diagnosed with biphonetypic leukemia, she spent the better part of a year and half in the hospital, went through painful full body radiation, harsh chemo, a bone marrow transplant, before he passed away at 17. Had I known he would have to endure the pain and suffering he did, had I know I would be very broke and have my credit tore to shreads, and suffer a major heart break would have chose to not have him! You have got to be kidding! I’m blessed to have had him for 17 years. Would I let my credit suck again if it meant never leaving him alone in that hospital, not working for a year and half so I could take care of him. YES I would do it over! He gave me 17 years of happiness and joy no one can take away. Was I ready for the expense and emotional trama no. I just hope when this child faces road blocks, someone will be there to support her!
I see I said she, I meant he.
I tested positive with this gene. My husband tested negative. My doctor suggested I have the baby checked (in the womb of course), I declined. She then suggested I call my sister and have my nieces checked. She also suggested I consider terminating. Perhaps she was terrified of a baby born imperfect on her watch, I don’t know. I switched doctors the very next day. 3,784 days ago, I gave birth to a healthy baby that DID NOT have this genetic disorder. And never once would I have wanted to know his eye color. Perhaps this couple should have consulted with God himself to find out if their precious bundle would turn out not so perfect. Sad.
If they pick and choose the child they will keep based on “tests”, what happens when the one they choose to keep doesn’t live up to their expectations? Curious…will they abandon their unruly teen? I get that they had the tests so they could make an informative decision to keep/abort, but how does this work? Get pregnant over and over, terminating each pregnancy due to the possibility of a disease? The article states: “The couple said that genetic testing Kerrie Evans, 38, underwent in the first trimester….” Why not before? The gene is in them! They should have done their research BEFORE. Cousins, siblings, some family history. Not, “let’s make a baby, if it’s eff’d up, we can ditch and try again.” Put a little effort into it people. I think the choice to sue is less appalling than the thought of terminating pregnancy after pregnancy as you find that the fetus (God forbid it be a baby) have some sort of disorder.