Investigation of the lawsuits regarding Down syndrome

Abstract

Objective: To examine the number of cases filed about Down syndrome in terms of its numbers, causes and consequences, to provide an overview of what doctors should pay attention to when informing and consulting patients and during follow-up and recommend solutions for decreasing the number of malpractice cases. (Discussing the legal aspect of the decisions is beyond the scope of this research.) Materials and Methods: ‘Down’, ‘Down sendromu’ ‘Down’s, ‘trizomi 21 ‘, ‘trisomi 21’ and ‘trisomy 21’ was written to ‘ https:// karararama.yargitay.gov.tr/ ‘ and ‘https://karararama.danistay.gov.tr/’ web addresses search engines and the data was examined with Microsoft Excel or with R version 4.0.5 ( 2021-03-31) for bias and frequency table was used and the results were examined. Results: A total of 53 cases were found. 49 supreme court and 4 Council of State court decisions are found. The cases are from 27.10.2009 to 13.10.2021. Conclusion: A total of 39 different Down syndrome cases were examined, as 6 of the 53 cases were related to the same cases and 8 of them were cases not related to Down syndrome. 28 cases are “doctor negligence”, 5 are “reckless killing”, 1 “material mixing in the genetic center”, 1 “unauthorized use of the child’s photo”, 1 “stealing money from the child”, 1 “intentionally injuring the child”, 1 ‘inheritance request for the child’ and 1 on ‘guardianship’.