ABSTRACT
Several well-publicised ‘grand multiple’ births and deaths have promoted public awareness that the acceptance of certain forms of medical assistance in the quest for a pregnancy may have untoward consequences. Widespread publicity was given to the Frustacis and their septuplets born in California in 1985.1 Following the birth of their first child, conceived after Patti Frustaci had taken a fertility drug, the couple sought medical assistance for the second time. Her septuplet pregnancy followed a course of Pergonal. One septuplet was stillborn, three died within nineteen days and the three survivors-one girl and two boys-were to suffer from impaired vision, hernias, chronic lung damage and developmental delay. The two boys also had heart damage. Soon after the birth of their seven babies, the parents instigated malpractice litigation on the grounds that the Pergonal dosage was too high and the obstetric monitoring by ultrasonography inadequate. The lawsuit was settled out of court in July 1990, with the fertility clinic agreeing to pay the Frustacis 450,000 dollars and give the three surviving children monthly payments.
