BGI rules out compensation for boy born with defects

Chinese genomics giant BGI, previously known as Beijing Genomics Institute, officially confirmed on Wednesday that the company will not pay compensation for a boy with mental disabilities and physical deformities in Hunan province.

The boy was previously assessed as low risk by BGI's DNA-based non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) - just one of many cases of the company's missed examination, according to a report by tech news site huxiu.

NIPT is BGI's key product. In 2017, the revenue brought by its maternal health sector reached more than 1 billion, accounting for 54.21 percent of the total.

Xu Qian, secretary of the board of Shenzhen-listed BGI Genomics Co Ltd, said the boy's abnormality was out of their testing range. "Therefore, the compensation is unfounded." But Xu said BGI had visited the boy and offered their advice about his treatment.

"Within the range, NIPT can detect 99 percent of abnormalcy," said Peng Zhiyu, general manager of its maternal health department, but he also admitted the method is still a screening test, unlike the traditional prenatal diagnostic methods such as chromosome analysis through amniocentesis.

Against a string of doubts, the Shenzhen-based company called for expanding the technology more widely with public financial support. The city of Shenzhen has included the test in its regular prenatal examinations and it is covered by public medical insurance service.