To err is human, to forgive divine. That’s according to Alexander Pope, and definitely not according to a couple in Eugene, Ore., who are suing a doctor there for a botched vasectomy that resulted in the birth of their son.
The couple alleges that the doctor knew the man’s tubes were “thin and difficult to dissect,” and that complications were encountered during the surgery. The doctor, meanwhile, didn’t inform the couple of any problems, say the husband and wife. They are seeking $650,000 from the doctor and hospital board for part of the cost of the c-section to deliver the baby, plus the expense of rearing their child and his college tuition.
However, did the couple not sign any kind of waiver before the surgery acknowledging that 99.85 percent of vasectomies are successful, but .15 percent, or one to two women out of 1,000 will still get pregnant within the first year following their partner’s procedure?
The second thought that springs to my mind (after the poor, possibly unwanted child) is that maybe the parents’ religious beliefs prevented them from terminating the seemingly unwanted pregnancy. But someone with religious beliefs stronger than mine (who wasn’t hard to come by) said if the couple were that religious, they probably wouldn’t have undergone a vasectomy for birth control reasons in the first place.
By all means, sue for the botched procedure. But suing for the cost of raising your own child? Really? That smacks of mean (to me, anyway), and I weep for the boy’s future emotional health. Maybe he should retain a lawyer (and maybe his parents should hold onto the number of their own, just in case they go from plaintiffs to defendants in 18 years or so).
On that same note, I wonder if the $650,000 sum includes therapy for the kid who will know just how much his parents didn’t want him as soon as he asks them why he drives a Ferrari while his friends all take the bus.
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