Genetic Testing Facilities Beat Botched Paternity Test Claim

A child allegedly deprived of his father due to a botched paternity test lost his bid to add a negligence claim to a lawsuit against two genetic testing facilities, because he didn’t sufficiently allege injuries resulting from the firms’ actions, a federal court said.

Kentucky likely would recognize that the companies, DNA Diagnostics and Natera, owed a duty of care to the child to correctly perform the test and report the results, even though he wasn’t yet born at the time, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky said.

Many rights, including inheritance and support rights, depend ...