Sauder Schelkopf is investigating a potential class action lawsuit on behalf of individuals who have elected for prenatal genetic testing. It was reported by the New York Times that the test results can give false positives, resulting in added stress and anxieties for expectant parents. Parents who receive false positive results may be led to believe their child could have intellectual disabilities, heart defects, a shortened life span, or be at a higher risk for infant mortality, among other complications.
The New York Times reported on January 1, 2022 “For every 15 times they correctly find a problem, they are wrong 85 times.”
As reported by the New York Times: “After a year of fertility treatments, [a parent] was thrilled when she found out she was pregnant in November 2020…But a few weeks later, as she was driving her son home from school, her doctor’s office called. A prenatal blood test indicated her fetus might be missing part of a chromosome, which could lead to serious ailments and mental illness. Sitting on the couch that evening with her husband, she cried as she explained they might be facing a decision on terminating the pregnancy.” In a follow-up test it was revealed that the initial result was wrong. Her child, now 6 months old, “shows no sign of the condition he screened positive for. According to the New York Times, a screening “which looks for Prader-Willi syndrome, a condition that offers little chance of living independently as an adult[,] Studies have found its positive results are incorrect more than 90 percent of the time.”
Testers and manufacturers, which include companies like Labcorp (owner of Sequenom), Quest Diagnostics (the QNatal Advanced test), Myriad Genetics (the Prequel test), Roche (the Harmony test), and Natera, have administered or released tests that purport to screen for a variety of complications including Prader-Willi or Angelman syndromes, DiGeorge syndrome, 1p36 deletion, Cri-du-chat syndrome, Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, Turner syndrome (monosomy X), Patau syndrome (trisomy 13), and Jacobsen syndrome.
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Experience Matters
Sauder Schelkopf has a nationally recognized class action and personal injury law firm.
- We filed the first class action lawsuit in the country against Allergan on behalf of women who had recalled breast implants and our firm was court appointed to serve on the steering committee.
- We represented women in a lawsuit against Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc. related to the manufacture and sale of its fertility drug, Bravelle. It was alleged that over an 18 month period Ferring knew or had reason to know that Bravelle was sub-potent and could not deliver on its promised benefits.
- We represented women who were implanted with Essure, a female birth control device. It is alleged that the devices migrated and fractured, punctured internal organs or caused other injuries.
- We represent patients of Pacific Fertility Center who allege their frozen eggs and embryos were impacted by a cryopreservation tank failure at PFC’s San Francisco clinic in early March 2018.
- Our attorneys filed the first class action lawsuit against Theranos alleging that it falsely marketed its fingerprick testing method.
We Want to Hear from You
If you paid for prenatal genetic testing that resulted in a false positive, contact the lawyers at Sauder Schelkopf by filling out the form on this page.