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 parents about potential birth defects. Wrongful life lawsuits, on the other hand, are prenatal negligence suits brought on behalf of the deformed or retarded child against a doctor who negligently failed to diagnose or inform the child’s parents about potential birth defects. Generally, courts dismiss wrongful life lawsuits because they fail to perceive that