I got married in New York some 40 years ago.  And, because it was New York, there were

some funny quirks.  Like, I had to take a genetic test or two.  You see, being Jewish in New York meant you were probably of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) origin; if both parents carry a specific gene, 25% of the progeny would develop Tay-Sachs disease, with which children under 5 die.  (I also took a test to insure that PKU was not among my gene pool, either.)

In the late 1970’s, a child sued for damages for being born with this neurodegenerative disease in California.  The Court of Appeal decided in 1980, and the award to the child was upheld.  This type of case is termed “wrongful birth”.   And some 15 years ago, this became an item in Israel, as well.  (Note that ‘wrongful birth’ litigation is illegal in most other countries and in 46 states of the US.) By the way, the child sues and not the parents,  because it generates larger awards than if the parent sues.  The child ‘needs’ compensation for that lifetime of suffering it will endure.  But, there’s a larger dimension to this issue.

If you are a physician, how many new tests will you be ordering strictly for CYA purposes?   And, it’s not just true for Israel.  As alluded to above, four US states also allow these cases.  Dr. Maria Morel, sonograph technicians, OB/GYN Specialists of the Palm Beaches, and the Perinatal Specialists of the Palm Beaches were sued for $ 9 million because a child was born missing both legs and an arm, which the parents claimed should have been seen before birth.  The parents claimed they would have terminated the pregnancy had they known.  They were awarded $ 4.5 million of their request last month (September 2011)

Now, I admit this is the US.  A place where science has been under question by an entire political party.   (I will be talking further about this inane policy in a future post.) But, Israel is a very pro-genetic testing culture, with outright respect and honor provided to science and science professionals  The quest for this type of prosecution is only based upon money and the desire for only perfect babies.

It is a larger problem in Israel than in the US, though.  Because many marriages are among second cousins, due to the fact that immigrants reside in small villages.  And, living in a small village (a generation or two or three ago) meant that the only choices for spouses were among one’s extended family.  For Israeli Muslims and Druze, some 40% of the marriages are consanguineous (second cousins or closer); for Israeli Bedouins, the fraction approaches 2/3, and about 20% of the Christians fall in this category.

If this legal trend continues, one can expect many couples to abort healthy fetuses.  Because right now, we have insufficient data to determine the prognosis of various chromosomal abnormalities. Physicians will practice defensive medicine- a costly practice in dollars and loss of potential life.

This is not the Brave New World I envisioned when I was younger…How about you?

Share this: