Woman Given Flu Shot Instead Of Birth Control Shot Sues For 'Wrongful Life' After Baby Born With Cognitive Impairment
It’s an ethical dilemma made reality: Should the health care professionals who were supposed to provide a woman birth control — and failed — be forced to pay for the expensive medical bills of that woman’s subsequent child?
As reported by news affiliate KIRO 7 , a Seattle woman named Yesenia Pacheco has filed a civil lawsuit against the federal government for the actions of the NeighborCare Health Clinic, which is federally funded. According to Pacheco, in September of 2011, clinic workers mistakenly gave her an injection of the influenza vaccine instead of a Depo-Provera shot, a birth control method 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. Because the clinic only detected their error during Pacheco’s next scheduled visit, Pacheco was already two and a half months pregnant.
"I asked what happened,” Pacheco told KIRO 7, in Spanish. “They said you are 2 1/2 months pregnant. You don't have to have it. You won't have to pay anything.”
Due to her religious views, however, an abortion was out of the question, and about seven months later, her third child and daughter Sandra was born. Now three years old, Sandra is struggling with unilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria , a congenital defect stemming from an abnormally folded brain that results in lifelong speech and motor problems.
Though Pacheco unconditionally loves her child, she still blames the clinic for having led her to this situation in the first place and believes that Sandra — and by extension her legal guardians — should be entitled to compensation for her medical bills and for unneeded pain and suffering. The lawsuit will attempt to secure damages through a “wrongful life” claim, which is meant to hold a defendant responsible for having failed to prevent the birth of the severely disabled plaintiff through their willful negligence.
Historically, it’s been a dicey proposition to make, as many might see the validation of such a claim as devaluing the life of someone born with severe disabilities, such that their non-existence would be better than the alternative and thus needs to be compensated for. Though many states and countries, including Germany, have rejected “wrongful life” claims, it remains to be seen what will come of Pacheco’s lawsuit.
"It's hard. I already have two girls. I didn't want anymore," said Pacheco.