Impaired Children and Tort Remedies: The Emergence of a Consensus

Eisbrenner v. Stanley, 308 N.W.2d 209 (Mich. 1981); Dorlin v. Providence Hosp., 325 N.W.2d 600 (Mich. 1982); Harbeson v. Parke-Davis, Inc., 656 P.2d 483 (Wash. 1983) [hereinafter referred to as Harbeson].

See, e.g., Clark H. , Wrongful Conception: A New Kind of Medical Malpractice? Family Law Quarterly 12(4): 259 (Winter 1979); Taub S. , Wrongful Life — Its Problems Are Not Just Semantic: A Reply to Furrow, Law, Medicine & Health Care 10(5): 208 (October 1982) [hereinafter referred to as Taub].

Taub , supra note 2, at 214.

Furrow B. , Diminished Lives and Malpractice: Courts Stalled in Transition, Law, Medicine & Health Care 10(3): 100 (June 1982) [hereinafter referred to as Furrow].

Harbeson , supra note 1.

Fetal hydantoin syndrome is characterized by mild to moderate deficiencies of growth and mental capacity; craniofacial abnormalities (wide-set eyes, drooping eyelids, prominent ears, wide mouth, broad nasal bridge with short upturned nose); limb defects (hypoplasia of fingers, small fingernails, fingerlike thumb); and other physical and developmental defects. Dukes M.N.G. , Meyler's Side Effects of Drugs (Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) (9th ed. 1980) at 92.

Harbeson , supra note 1, at 497.

Id. at 491.

192 Cal. Rptr. 337 (Cal. 1982) [hereinafter referred to as Turpin].

Harbeson , supra note 1, at 495.

Id. at 496.

Furrow , supra note 4.

See, e.g., Peck , Compensation for Pain: A Reappraisal in Light of New Medical Evidence, Michigan Law Review 72: 1355 (1974) (generally negative perspective). Contra Calabresi G. , The Costs of Accidents (Yale University Press, New Haven) (1970) at 215-25 (pain and suffering legitimate); Posner R. , Economic Analysis of Law (Little, Brown & Co., Boston) (1977) at 149.

See Curlender v. Bio-Science Laboratories, 165 Cal. Rptr. 477 (Cal. App. 1980).

See, e.g., Mason v. Western Pennsylvania Hosp., 453 A.2d 974 (Pa. 1982) (court did not recognize a wrongful life claim, but did recognize the wrongful birth claim, for a negligently performed tubal ligation); Harbeson, supra note 1, at 494 (definition of wrongful life actions).

Turpin , supra note 9, at 345 n.9.

Treatment possibilities are advancing. See generally Harrison M.R. , Management of the Fetus with a Correctable Congenital Defect, Journal of the American Medical Association 246(7): 774 (August 14, 1981); Ruddick W. Wilcox W. , Operating on the Fetus, Hastings Center Report 12(5): 10 (October 1982).

See generally Motulsky A.G. , Impact of Genetic Manipulation on Society and Medicine, Science 219(4581): 135–40 (January 14, 1983).

Taub, supra note 2, at 210.

See, e.g., Robak v. United States, 658 F.2d 471 (7th Cir. 1981) (failure to diagnose rubella); Phillips v. United States, 508 F. Supp. 544 (D.S.C. 1981) (failure to test or advise about Down syndrome); Pierce v. De Gracia, 431 N.E.2d 768 (Ill. 1982) (botched sterilization); Mason v. Western Pennsylvania Hosp., 453 A.2d 974 (Pa. 1982) (botched sterilization). See also Clinite B. , Wrongful Birth: The Appropriate Measure of Damages, Illinois Bar Journal 70(12): 772 (August 1982); Goldstein C. Hirsch H. , Wrongful Life, Medical Trial Technique Quarterly 28(3); 279 (Winter 1982). But see Hartke v. McKelway, 707 F.2d 1544 (D.C. Cir. 1983); Schork v. Huber, 648 S.W.2d 861 (Ky. 1983).

Taub, supra note 2, at 210.

For an interesting study on the effects of a tort case on medical practice, see Comment, Where the Public Peril Begins: A Survey of Psychotherapists to Determine the Effects of Tarasoff, Stanford Law Review 31: 165 (1978) (concluding that Tarasoff had produced substantial anxiety and had effected some changes in therapists practice). See generally Danzon , An Economic Analysis of the Medical Malpractice System, Behavioral Sciences and the Law 1:39 (1983).

Holder A. R. , Medical Malpractice Law (Wiley, New York) (1975) at 55.

Id.

Taub, supra note 2, at 210.

A few decisions have required testing, even in the face of uniform medical testimony that such tests were not customarily employed. See, e.g., Helling v. Carey, 519 P.2d 981 (Wash. 1974) (requiring ophthalmologists to perform a pressure test for glaucoma on all patients, not just those over the age of 40).

Taub, supra note 2, at 210.

See, e.g., Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R., 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1928).

Taub, supra note 2, at 210.

See Posner R. , Economic Analysis of Law (Little, Brown & Co., Boston) (1977) at 143.

Restatement (Second) of Torts §920 (1977).

Taub, supra note 2, at 213.

Capron A. , Tort Liability in Genetic Counseling, Columbia Law Review 79(4): 618, 682 (May 1979).

Furrow , supra note 4, at 102-03.

Capron , supra note 33, at 659 n.175.

See, e.g., D.C. Code Ann. §6-2425(c) (1982).

“If it is true that no one should be forced to accept a ‘benefit’ he does not wish to have, then considerable care must be exercised in offsetting benefits received in the course of a tort.” Dobbs D. , Handbook on the Law of Remedies (West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minn.) (1973) at 182.

The facts of this example are taken from Griffin v. Deaconness Hosp. (St. Louis City Circuit Ct., Mo. September 15, 1981), reported in ATLA Law Reporter 25: 231 (1982).

See, e.g., Idaho Code §5-310 (Supp. 1982). See also Annot., 84 A.L.R.3d 411, 432 (listing of wrongful death statutes that do and do not include stillborn fetuses as minor children).

Healy J. , The Legal Obligations of Genetic Counselors, in Genetics and the Law II ( Milunsky A. Annas G. , eds.) (Plenum Press, New York) (1979) at 74.

Taub, supra note 2, at 212.