On April 9th, 1982, an infant recorded only by the name of “Infant Doe” was born in a hospital in Bloomington, Indiana. The baby was born with a blocked esophagus, thus requiring an immediate surgery to allow food to reach the stomach and nourish the infant. However, the infant’s parents decided to withhold from the surgery, as advised by the physician. The physician’s argument for this advice is unclear. Nonetheless, Infant Doe died six days after birth as a result of malnourishment. This case sparked national attention to and concern for the neglection of care for individuals with Down syndrome by medical professionals. 

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

Individuals with Down syndrome often experience inadequate medical access because of societal and communication boundaries, and because of sociocultural contexts. For example, this discrimination inhibits those with Down syndrome from receiving proper access throughout the course of their lives in receiving the necessary types of doctors and treatments. 

Discrimination in medical settings

John M. Maciejczyk, Withholding Treatment from Defective Infants: Infant Doe Postmortem, 59 Notre Dame L. Rev. 224 (1983).
Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol59/iss1/10

Withholding Treatment from Defective Infants: Infant Doe Postmortem

The transition from pediatric care to adult care is a medical changeover that is often more difficult for patients with Down syndrome than typically developing ones. A study from the American Journal of Medical Genetics revealed that a relatively large proportion of individuals with Down syndrome are unable to undergo a transition from pediatric to adult care because of discriminatory socioeconomic or cultural barriers, and that adults with Down syndrome who remain in pediatric care tended to experience poorer health outcomes and higher rates of complications from common comorbidities, such as heart disease. This study exemplifies how societal bias limits the health outcomes of individuals with Down syndrome. 

Transition from pediatric care to adult care

 In 2004, the Down Syndrome Association of the United Kingdom published a statement accusing doctors of discriminating against patients with Down syndrome by neglecting to offer and provide them with the proper and necessary social and medical treatments for cognitive development. The Association argued that this discrimination has led to increased rates of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome. 

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