S.P. (Minor) v. Clalit Health Fund (Civil Case 3132/01 Jerusalem District Court)

Ms. P. became pregnant unexpectedly at age 40 and sought to terminate the pregnancy through abortion, but at the last moment was convinced to continue with the pregnancy, after reaching an agreement with her gynecologist that the pregnancy would receive close supervision and monitoring, and that in any case where there would be concern for the fetus's wellbeing, the doctors would terminate the pregnancy.

In practice, the promises proved to be false promises and the treatment and monitoring performed for this pregnancy were deficient and negligent. Thus, among other things, the mother underwent two invasive tests, which are parallel tests designed for exactly the same purpose – chorionic villus sampling followed by amniocentesis – when there is no dispute that no more than one of the two tests should be performed. These invasive tests, which involve inserting a needle into the amniotic sac, can damage the amniotic sac and cause harm to the fetus. And indeed in our case, the child S. was born with a deformed hand – a phenomenon that can be caused as a result of the needle striking the membranes of the amniotic sac and creating bands within the amniotic sac.

The negligence in treating this pregnancy was also expressed in the doctors' failure to perform ultrasound examinations for the mother – examinations that could have detected the formation of the defect in the fetus. Had the examinations been conducted and the defect been discovered, it would have been possible to attempt to correct it while the fetus was still in the womb or to allow the mother to terminate the pregnancy and prevent the birth of a severely disabled child.

In the lawsuit our office conducted against the health fund and its doctors, the court ultimately determined that there was indeed negligence in the treatment of this pregnancy and the health fund was ordered to compensate the minor and his parents