Reed v. Campagnol

630 A.2d 1145 (1993)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

This case of alleged medical malpractice came from federal court pursuant to the Maryland Certification of Questions of Law Act. Reed (P) sought damages against Campagnolo and Grund (Ds). Ds rendered prenatal care to P and her unborn child. P claims that Ds failed inform P of the existence or need for AFP testing to detect serious birth defects such as spina bifida and imperforate anus. P claims that had she been informed of the testing she would have requested it. Had the testing been done, elevated levels of protein would have been found. This was indicative of an abnormal fetus, which would have led P to request Amniocentesis. Amniocentesis would have revealed the extent of the fetus’ defect and would have ultimately lead P to choose an abortion. Ds agreed that P was never informed of the AFP testing. Ps’ child suffered from spina bifida, hydrocephaly, imperforate anus, and ambiguous genitalia. The child has only one kidney, a fistula entering her bladder and intestines and increased head circumference, which required the insertion of a cerebral abdominal shunt after birth. P sued Ds for wrongful birth, lack of informed consent and third party beneficiary maintenance after age of majority. Ps eventually abandoned the third-party count. Questions were certified to the Maryland Supreme Court.