title: Judgment, 8 November 1988.
abstract: The Federal Court of the Federal Republic of Germany held that a medically unnecessary delay in performing an amniocentesis to test for chromosomal damage, with the result that a second necessary amniocentesis could not be performed before the time limit for undergoing an abortion expired, constituted medical negligence.  The first amniocentesis had produced inconclusive results, and the plaintiff had given birth to a child suffering from Down's syndrome.  The Court ruled that the physician who had caused the delay was negligent and remanded the case for determination of damages.
mesh_terms: D000649:Amniocentesis; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities; D009358:Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities; D019049:Developed Countries; D003933:Diagnosis; D004194:Disease; D005060:Europe; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D005860:Germany, West; D007603:Jurisprudence
keywords: Amniocentesis; Congenital Abnormalities; Court Decision; Developed Countries; Diseases; Europe; Examinations And Diagnoses; Genetic Technics; Germany, Federal Republic Of; Laboratory Examinations And Diagnoses; Medical Liability; Neonatal Diseases And Abnormalities; Western Europe