Couple Sues Doc for Wrongfully Aborting Healthy Baby
by Akron Beacon Journal

Akron, OH -- A Canton, Ohio couple has filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit claiming a doctor negligently aborted their living, unborn child.

Christine L. and Michael F. Sicker allege Akron-area obstetrician and gynecologist Barry Fish erroneously determined that their unborn child was dead and recommended the abortion.

The couple say Fish failed to perform additional tests that would have shown the baby was alive.

Furthermore, they say Fish failed to tell them that the bothced abortion removed only an arm of the baby, leaving Christine Sicker to deliver a "well-formed" baby three weeks later at her home.

In their lawsuit, the Sickers say the 12-week-old baby was intact, except for a missing arm. A pathologist later determined that the baby was viable and healthy prior to the abortion, they say.

"They're emotionally devastated by what took place,'' said the couple's attorney, Donald S. Varian Jr. of Akron. "They are strongly opposed to abortion, personally and religiously. They feel their baby was terminated when it shouldn't have been.''

Last week, the Sickers filed a civil lawsuit against Fish in Summit County Common Pleas Court seeking more than $3.5 million in damages.

According to their lawsuit, the Sickers accuse Fish of "negligently and carelessly causing the death of a living and viable fetus,'' and of failing to tell the couple that the process to remove the supposedly-dead child was botched.

Christine Sicker says in the lawsuit that she has suffered "great pain and discomfort... and emotional distress.'' She declined comment when reached at her home Friday.

Fish did not return a message left at his Medina Road office. Lori Rolenc, his office manager, said Fish had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

The case has been assigned to Judge Brenda Burnham Unruh.

Varian said Fish deviated from acceptable medical procedures by relying strictly on the results of an ultrasound when he told the couple that their unborn child was dead.

Fish's interpretation of the ultrasound showed no movement or heartbeat, Varian said. However, he said, it appears Fish did not perform blood, urine and pelvic tests that would have revealed a healthy, living baby.

"The family would have done anything to take their baby to full term. The only reason they didn't is because Dr. Fish told them there was nothing to go full term with,'' Varian said.

The Sickers have been married 11 years and have a 3-year-old son.

They thought they had conceived their second child in April 2001, Varian said. Christine Sicker, then 36, had been a regular patient of Fish and said she visited his office on May 24 to confirm the pregnancy. She underwent an ultrasound.

During a follow-up visit a week later, Fish diagnosed her with a blighted ovum, meaning the child she was carrying was not alive, according to the lawsuit.

On June 18, Fish performed a dilation and evacuation at Akron General Medical Center.

Despite the procedure, Christine Sicker "passed a well-formed fetus at home, intact except for a missing right arm'' on July 6, the lawsuit claims.

The couple had a memorial service and burial for the unborn child after a medical pathologist's examination, Varian said.

The couple requested the exam "because they were so amazed and so alarmed when the child was delivered and it appeared to be a full baby, healthy and viable. They needed to know if the child would have lived,'' he said.

Varian says the pathologist's report suggests the baby was viable with no genetic defects.

For several weeks after the abortion, Christine Sicker's body "continued to develop as if pregnant,'' and on Sept. 19, another doctor performed a dilation and curettage to return her body to "that of a nonpregnant female,'' according to the lawsuit.

Varian said the couple has received counseling and guidance from their church to deal with what occurred.

"They're just devastated as a family,'' Varian said. "They don't have any personal animosity toward Dr. Fish, but they have a great deal of emotional concerns and want to ensure that something like this doesn't happen to someone else.''