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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Wrongful life and wrongful birth. Implications for diagnostic sonography.

We trust that this communication will further the understanding of the concepts involved in wrongful life and wrongful birth and will assist the conduct of medical practice in such a way to minimize risks to patients and ultrasound physicians with regard to their liability. When these physicians are involved in wrongful life cases, we believe that the concepts presented will assist them in understanding the legal and societal environment in which they find themselves. We hope also that this communication may assist the defense attorney to more effectively prepare a response to the plaintiff's legal theory. Knowledge should provide understanding, if not relief.

Expert Testimony↗
PubMed1985

Wrongful life and wrongful birth: new concepts for the pediatrician.

Over the past two decades, numerous suits for damages have been brought against physicians for the injury of wrongful life, or wrongful birth. Within the past 5 years, several precedents have been set that broaden the physician's legal obligation to recognize and act upon foreseeable or potentially recurrent genetic, teratogenic, or chromosomal disorders. These precedents may be expected to affect all physicians, but particularly pediatricians, because of the increased frequency of such disorders in the pediatric population.

Abortion, Therapeutic↗
PubMed1985

What is wrong with 'wrongful life' cases?

'Wrongful life' torts raise a number of interesting and perplexing philosophical issues. In a suit for 'wrongful life', the plaintiff (usually an infant) brings an action (usually against a physician) claiming that some negligent action has caused the plaintiff's life, say by not informing the parents of the likely prospect that their child would be born with severe defects. The most perplexing feature of this is that the plaintiff is claiming that he would have been better off if he had never been born. A number of arguments have appeared which purport to show that "wrongful life' claims should not be allowed, either because it is senseless to claim that one would be better off if one had not existed or that it is impossible to assess the extent to which someone has been damaged by being brought into existence. In our paper we rebut these arguments and suggest a procedure for determining damages in 'wrongful life cases'.

California↗
PubMed1978

Park v. Chessin: the continuing judicial development of the theory of "wrongful life".

Park v. Chessin, a recent New York case, marked the first step toward judicial acceptance of the theory of "wrongful life." Wrongful life suits involve a cause of action brought by an infant, against a physician, alleging that the physician's failure to inform the child's parents of the possibility of their bearing a severely defective child was the proximate cause of the infant's birth, and thus resulted in harm to the infant. This Note explores recent legal developments that give precedential support to the development of the theory of wrongful life. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the awarding of monetary damages is an appropriate remedy for the wrongful life plaintiff, and it examines possible methods for measuring those damages. The Note concludes with an analysis of the capability of courts to adjudicate wrongful life suits, and of the possible ramifications of judicial acceptance of the theory of wrongful life.

Compensation and Redress↗
PubMed1998

'Wrongful life' lawsuits for faulty genetic counselling: should the impaired newborn be entitled to sue?

A "wrongful life" suit is based on the purported tortious liability of a genetic counsellor towards an infant with hereditary defects, with the latter asserting that he or she would not have been born at all if not for the counsellor's negligence. This negligence allegedly lies in the failure on the part of the defendant adequately to advice the parents or to conduct properly the relevant testing and thereby prevent the child's conception or birth (where unimpaired life was not possible). This paper will offer support for the thesis that it would be both feasible and desirable to endorse "wrongful life" compensation actions. The genetic counsellor owed a duty of due professional care to the impaired newborn who now claims that but for the counsellor's negligence, he or she would not have been born at all. The plaintiff's defective life (where healthy life was never an option) constitutes a compensable injury. A sufficient causal link may exist between the plaintiff's injury and the defendant's breach of duty of due professional care and an appropriate measure of damages can be allocated to the disabled newborn. Sanctioning a "wrongful life" cause of action does not necessarily entail abandoning valuable constraints with regard to abortion and euthanasia. Nor does it inevitably lead to an uncontrolled slide down a "slippery slope".

Compensation and Redress↗
PubMed1989

The concepts of wrongful birth and wrongful life and their relation to medical imaging.

Although often used interchangeably, "wrongful birth" and "wrongful life" are distinct legal concepts. Wrongful birth involves the physician's duty to impart to expectant parents information about potential fetal defects. Wrongful life suits reflect the child's right to recovery for life-long suffering as a result of the physician's inadequate pre- or peri-natal care. Modern medical imaging techniques can play a major role in the diagnosis of interuterine malformations; this article explores the legal duties which may be imposed upon physicians who interpret such tests.

Child Advocacy↗
PubMed1982

Wrongful life: a misconceived tort.

Recent advances in prenatal genetic counseling have expanded the scope of malpractice liability. Parents and children have both brought tort actions for negligent prenatal genetic counseling. The child's "wrongful life" claim is a unique and difficult moral and legal issue. This comment examines wrongful life and the parents' "wrongful birth" action, and suggests a model of recovery for wrongful birth that avoids the insoluble problems inherent in a wrongful life claim while providing for the needs of the disabled child.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Torts of wrongful birth and wrongful life: a review.

During the past half century reproductive and prenatal technologies have become increasingly sophisticated and accessible to the public. As prospective parents have become more knowledgeable about the various reproductive options available, there has evolved a body of jurisprudence that has defined and defended the exclusive right of individuals to make their own decisions about conceiving and bearing children. This right is now protected under the constitutional umbrella of the right to privacy. If this right is violated through the negligence of one or more health care providers, the allegedly injured parents may sue for the wrongful birth of an unplanned or a defective child. Similarly, a defective child may sue for wrongful life. Both plaintiff parents and plaintiff child seek to recover monetary damages as compensation for their alleged injuries. In wrongful birth cases judicial opinions have moved from an earlier "blessings rationale" through a series of "benefits" cases toward more recent "burdens" decisions. In early suits for wrongful life the courts often held that the child had no valid cause of action and could therefore not be heard in court. More recently, however, some courts have recognized the validity of actions for wrongful life and have decided in favor of the defective children. The most recent judicial decisions suggest that courts may be following a trend to decide in favor of plaintiff parents and children at the expense of the defendant health care providers.

Birth Rate↗
PubMed1987

Wrongful life: some of the problems.

The author considers that some of the reasonings used by both the American and English courts against recognising a wrongful life claim are far from persuasive. However, there may indeed be strong public policy reasons against judicial recognition of such a claim. If judicial remedy is not possible for children in wrongful life situations, society ought to assist them in the alleviation of some of the practical problems caused by deformities.

Abortion, Eugenic↗
PubMed1996

'Wrongful conception', 'wrongful birth' and 'wrongful life': the first South African cases.

Internationally case law has developed in regard to actions which in due course were given the following labels. "Wrongful pregnancy" or "wrongful conception" for cases where a healthy but unwanted child is born, following negligent contraceptive advice by a doctor or a negligent sterilization or abortion procedure, and the parents claim damages; "wrongful birth" where such a claim is brought by the parents of an abnormal or disabled child; "wrongful life" where a claim is brought by or on behalf of the abnormal or disabled child itself. The first judgments in South Africa were handed down during the past seven years and are discussed in this article.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed1986

The logical case for "wrongful life".

Suits that claim that a child would be better off never having been born often founder on conceptual and logical dilemmas. However, the correct interpretation of "wrongful life" does not require a comparison between existence and nonexistence. The New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in the Procanik case to limit damages to extraordinary medical expenses, barring recovery for pain and suffering, is a reasonable resolution.

Compensation and Redress↗