EAST ST. LOUIS – Illinois recognizes wrongful birth as a cause of action, Missouri doesn’t, and U.S. Magistrate Mark Beatty gets to decide which law applies to John Cordes and Lindsey Cordes of Missouri.
They claim negligent counseling from Vios Fertility and genetic testing business Advagenix caused abnormalities in daughter Hannah.
Defense counsel Jennifer Labus of Chicago moved for Missouri law on Aug. 26.
Labus claimed all the injuries that plaintiffs claimed occurred in Missouri.
She claimed treatment and therapy were rendered to Hannah in Missouri and would allegedly continue for at the least 14 years.
She claimed Lindsey Cordes works at Eden Pediatrics in St. Louis and John Cordes works at Meridian Medical Technologies in St. Louis.
She claimed Hannah receives care at a home day care center her great aunt runs.
She defined wrongful birth as a claim that parents would have avoided conception or terminated pregnancy but for negligence in testing and counseling.
“The local law of the state where the personal injury occurred is most likely to be applied when the injured person has a settled relationship to that state, either because he is domiciled or resides there or because he does business there,” she wrote.
She claimed the case involved an attempt to evade Missouri’s bar on wrongful birth claims, “contrary to the state’s strong policy that such claims are improper.”
"Missouri’s laws can be assumed to reflect the values and preferences of Missouri residents," she wrote.
“The fact that plaintiffs’ claims will be foreclosed by the application of Missouri law is not a factor that this court may consider.”
She claimed Vios physician Amber Cooper saw Lindsey Cordes in Illinois nine times out of 18 because Cooper had agreed not to compete in Missouri for a year.
She claimed Cooper lives and works in Missouri.
“The sliver of insignificant conduct that occurred in Illinois does not create a more meaningful connection to the conduct causing plaintiffs’ injuries than Missouri," she wrote.
John Cordes and Lindsey Cordes sued Vios and Advagenix in 2020.
They named physician Cooper as a defendant but soon dismissed her.
Online sources show Vios as a Chicago clinic with a branch in Swansea, another in Creve Coeur, Mo., and others in Oregon and Wisconsin.
Sources show the names of the clinics have changed to Kindbody.
Michael Geigerman of St. Louis mediated the case this June 15, but the session didn’t lead to settlement.
After it, on a date no longer showing on the docket, plaintiff counsel Jennifer Pitzker of Clayton filed a motion to show cause.
Vios and Advagenix filed a response on a date no longer on the docket.
Beatty sealed both documents.
On July 11, he ruled that he could take appropriate action when confronted with a motion regarding alleged violation of the mediation program.
Beatty directed mediation coordinator Megan Arvola to engage in confidential discussions with Geigerman and both sides.
He strongly encouraged the parties to resolve the matter without his intervention.
Pitzker filed a motion to withdraw her motion on July 28, and Beatty sealed it.
On July 29, he entered an order finding the parties resolved the issue.
He hadn’t set a trial date as of Aug. 29.