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

When life is an injury: an economic approach to wrongful life lawsuits.

Can life be an injury? Jurists, theologians, and philosophers have spilled much ink over this question. Wrongful birth and wrongful life lawsuits are frequently debated in courts and academic circles. In broad overview, wrongful birth lawsuits are prenatal negligence suits brought by the parents of a deformed or retarded child against a doctor who negligently failed to diagnose or inform the pa...

Smith v. Cote (1986)

The 1986 Supreme Court of New Hampshire case Smith v. Cote held that parents in New Hampshire could sue their physicians based on a claim of wrongful birth [5] of their children, but that such suits warranted only qualified damages for emotional distress. Smith also held that children couldn't sue physicians for negligently allowing the lives of those children, a claim called wrongful life [6]....

Smith v. Cote (1986)

The 1986 Supreme Court of New Hampshire case Smith v. Cote held that parents in New Hampshire could sue their physicians based on a claim of wrongful birth [5] of their children, but that such suits warranted only qualified damages for emotional distress. Smith also held that children couldn't sue physicians for negligently allowing the lives of those children, a claim called wrongful life [6]....

The Dialectics of Wrongful Life and Wrongful Birth Claims in Israel: a Disability Critique

This article examines the dialectics of wrongful life and wrongful birth claims in Israel from 1986 until 2012. In May 2012 Israeli Supreme Court declared that while wrongful birth claims were still permitted, wrongful life claims were no longer accepted in a court of law. The article examines the conditions that allowed for and supported the expansion of wrongful life/birth claims until 2012. ...

Wrongful life, wrongful birth, wrongful death, and the right to refuse treatment: can reasonable jurisdictions recognize all but one?