14.01.2026 14:08
The family of a baby born with Down syndrome in Diyarbakır filed a complaint, claiming that necessary screening and diagnostic tests were not recommended during the pregnancy and that they were not informed. After the family's request for 700,000 TL in mediation was rejected, the court ruled that 77 million TL in compensation should be paid, including interest and expenses.
The family of a girl named M.K., who was born with Down syndrome in the Ergani district of Diyarbakır on July 3, 2021, filed a complaint against the doctor and the private hospital, claiming that necessary screening and diagnostic tests were not recommended during the pregnancy process and that they were not informed about the risks.
77 MILLION TL COMPENSATION TO BE PAID TO THE FAMILY The family filed a lawsuit for "material and moral compensation arising from the agency relationship" against the hospital management, which refused to pay the 700,000 TL they requested in the mediation system. In the decision hearing of the case seen at the Ergani 1st Civil Court of First Instance, the court stated that there was insufficient documentation in the file to indicate that the obligation to inform had been fulfilled, based on expert reports and evaluations from the Forensic Medicine Institution, and ruled for 43 million 783 thousand TL in material compensation and 225 thousand TL in moral compensation. It was stated that the amount to be paid to the family, including interest and expenses to be incurred since 2021, is approximately 77 million lira. The decision also indicated that the right to appeal is open. The reasoned decision emphasized that the family was not adequately informed about the tests related to the risk of Down syndrome, the results of these tests, and possible options.
"THEY LEARNED ABOUT DOWN SYNDROME AFTER BIRTH" The family's lawyer, Ferhat Yiğit, stated that screening tests were not recommended during the pregnancy process, saying, "My clients, the mother and father, came to me just one day after the birth of their daughter. While they were expecting a healthy child, they were told that she had Down syndrome. They informed me that this issue was not communicated to them during the pregnancy tests and examinations, and thus they learned that their child had Down syndrome at the time of birth, and they wanted to file a complaint against those responsible. We initiated the legal process. My client had regular check-ups at the private hospital. The 11th and 14th weeks of pregnancy are considered critical stages. No screening tests were recommended to my client at the 11th and 14th weeks in any way. There were already epicrisis reports regarding this. We submitted them to the file. This is how we filed our lawsuit. They were told that my client had a healthy girl. My client decided to file a lawsuit upon learning this at the time of birth," he said.
"THEY REJECTED THE MEDIATOR'S OFFER OF 700 THOUSAND TL" Yiğit stated that the 700,000 TL requested from the defendant side during the mediation process was rejected, saying, "In October 2021, we initiated the process with mediation. In fact, we initially approached them with an offer of around 700,000 TL. They did not accept it. Later, we filed the lawsuit. Our daughter is now 5 years old. Our hearings have lasted for more than 4 years. The file went to the Forensic Medicine Institution multiple times. There was a contradiction between the documents we submitted to file the lawsuit and the documents that the defendants later submitted to the file. The court evaluated these documents later. It concluded that the hospital did not submit signed documents and violated the obligation to inform. Thus, it accepted our requests for material and moral compensation. In terms of material compensation, a compensation of around 43 million TL was ruled for permanent incapacity and caregiver expenses. There is also 26 million TL in accrued interest. Additionally, 225 thousand TL was ruled for moral compensation. As a total, the decision amounted to approximately 77 million TL, including expenses."