When Newborn Screening Misses a Serious Condition: What Parents Should Know

Within a day or two of birth, nearly every baby in the United States has a few drops of blood taken from the heel. Most parents hear little about it afterward, which is often good news. When a child later becomes seriously ill from a condition the screening was meant to find, parents are often left wondering what they missed.

If you are in that place right now, please know this first: Catching these conditions in the first days of life is the screening program’s job, not yours. Newborn screening exists because many serious conditions cannot be seen in the first days of life. The system is designed to catch many of them.

When it does not, the cause may be the limits of the test itself, or a problem with how the sample was collected, handled, or followed up. None of that is something you were expected to manage.

What the Heel-Prick Test Does

Every state runs a public health program that screens newborns for many serious conditions. A health professional places a few drops of blood from your baby’s heel on a special card, usually within 24 to 48 hours of the baby’s birth. The card then goes to the state’s screening laboratory for testing.

Each state decides which conditions to include, so the list can differ slightly from one state to the next, but every state screens for a large number of diseases.  These diseases are looked for just after birth because early intervention can make a significant difference in how the baby does later in life.

How a Serious Condition Can Be Missed

Sommers Schwartz recently filed a formal notice of claim on behalf of a family in Georgia. The claim alleges that their baby’s newborn screening did not flag a tested for disease, and that over the following months the baby developed an enlarged heart and severe muscle weakness. According to the claim, the baby was diagnosed after a hospital stay at about four months old and treatment began then.  The impact of this inherited disorder could have been lessened significantly with proper early treatment.

A miss can happen for several reasons. Blood drawn too early or too late can make a false negative more likely. A blood transfusion, received by some babies in intensive care, can interfere with the results, so a repeat screen is generally needed later. If a sample cannot be used, a new one is needed.  Errors at the testing laboratory can also lead to a falsely negative result.

Delays can happen when sending a sample to the lab or delivering results back to the doctor. When a result comes back out of range (indicating a potential health issue), the baby needs follow-up testing as soon as possible. Errors or delays can occur at any step, from taking the initial sample to acting on the final results.

When a Missed Screening May Be Someone’s Responsibility

Screening has limits and not every missed condition means someone was careless. However, when a sample was drawn at the wrong time, a necessary repeat screen never happened, a sample was delayed or improperly processed, or an out-of-range result was not followed up, a family may have a claim against the people or institutions involved.

Deadlines for children’s injury claims vary by state and can be shorter than parents expect, especially when a government agency is involved. Claims involving a state-run program or lab can carry special notice rules, and some are limited. While this information offers a starting point, every family’s experience is unique, and you do not have to navigate this journey alone. If your child suffered due to a delayed or missed newborn screening, the compassionate medical malpractice attorneys at Sommers Schwartz are here to listen, investigate what happened, and guide you toward answers. Contact us today for a free, confidential consultation to protect your rights and your child’s future.