Trial date set for birth tourist suing Richmond docs, hospital

Alan Campbell

A trial date has been set in the BC Supreme Court for the claim filed by a socalled “birth tourist,” who’s suing Richmond doctors, Richmond Hospital and a local “birth hotel.”

Late March has been pencilled in for the case of Peng Chen, on behalf of his now four-year-old son Stephen, who was born at Richmond Hospital in 2018 with alleged complications

Chen alleges that two doctors Brenda

Tan and Balbinder Gill as well as Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) were negligent in the provision of medical care to Stephen and his mother, Rang Heng, at Richmond Hospital

He also claims the Richmond birthing house business which got paid to set up the birth locally for the family from China misrepresented the level of care that his wife and child would receive in Canada

So-called “birth tourism” refers to the perfectly legal, tried and trusted practice of expectant mothers arriving in Canada to purposely give birth here, due to children being born in Canada automatically re-

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Ceiving Citizenship

Prior to the trial date being set, Dr Tan’s lawyer had applied to the court to order Chen to release documents relating to his family’s visitor/residency status in Canada

The reason for the demand, according to court documents, was because where the child and his family will live in the future, and therefore their residency and immigration status, may affect the “assessment of the infant plaintiff’s income loss and cost of future care. ”

Documents also indicated that Dr Tan’s lawyer had twice requested the documents from Chen’s legal team, without success

However, the court recently ordered that the information pertaining to Chen and his family’s status in Canada be made known to the defence

“ all documents, communications, appli-

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Wednesday, February 8 5:30–7:30 p.m

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This event is free. Pizza and light refreshments will be served.

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AND this follow-up conversation:

Wednesday, February 15 5:30–7:30 p.m

Richmond Cultural Centre Performance Hall, 7700 Minoru Gate Registration #204285 cations, or documents relating to other processes regarding the infant plaintiff’s and his family’s visitor status in Canada, residency, or immigration status from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada” be handed over

And that “ all documents regarding the infant plaintiffs residence in Canada and eligibility for coverage under the Medical Services Plan from Health Insurance BC” also be made known

Chen’s lawsuit makes references to complications at the time of Stephen’s birth, resulting in his son being in the intensive care unit for several days afterwards

Chen, a resident of China at the time, claims that, as a result of negligence in 2018, his son suffered brain damage, seizures, delayed growth and development, cerebral palsy and cognitive impairment

He further alleges that Jie Zheng and a Ms Liang who operated ABC, a birthing house on Ash Street in Richmond misrepresented the level of antenatal and/ or perinatal care and expertise that his wife and child would receive in Canada

Chen claims that, because he had “little or no knowledge of the health-care system in Canada” he was “particularly vulnerable” to the alleged misrepresentations from Zheng and Liang

All named defendants in the lawsuit have denied any negligence

Temporary Commercial Use Permit

Mobile Food Vendor

The City is in receipt of a Temporary Commercial Use Permit application for a Mobile Food Vendor located at 13571 Commerce Parkway

Those persons who consider themselves affected by the proposed food truck location are invited to make a written submission to the General Manager, Community Safety at 6911 No 3 Road, Richmond, B C , V6Y 2C1, or by email to buslic@richmond ca

All written submissions received prior to the proposed approval date of February 9, 2023, will be forwarded to the General Manager, Community Safety for consideration

For more information on the proposed Temporary Commercial Use Permit for a Mobile Food Vendor please visit http://richmond ca/mobilefoodvendor or contact the Business Licence Department at 604-276-4328