PROFESSIONOhio Supreme Court limits what parents can win in wrongful birth casesJustices in the court's dissenting opinion argue that the state is charting its own course by limiting damages in cases against physicians.By Amy Lynn Sorrel, amednews staff. April 10, 2006. The Ohio Supreme Court granted protection to physicians in the state's first legal test of wrongful birth cases. These are lawsuits in which parents of a child with disabilities argue that they were wrongfully deprived of the right to terminate the pregnancy after a doctor or hospital failed to detect and inform them of genetic defects. The 4-3 decision allows parents to sue doctors for negligent medical advice or genetic testing that resulted in the birth of a child with disabilities. But they can't recover the costs of raising a child they claim they would have aborted. Physicians would be responsible only for the costs of the pregnancy and the birth, the court ruled. The split decision underscores the divergence in opinion over whether wrongful birth cases should be allowed. It comes as legislative efforts are proceeding in Ohio that would make it the seventh state to prohibit the lawsuits altogether, says the Ohio State Medical Assn. Doctors say the Supreme Court ruling is consistent with liability standards in medical liability cases, but plaintiff attorneys disagree and argue that the ruling virtually nullifies such claims. "The net effect of the ruling is to give legal immunity to doctors and hospitals for their own negligence," said attorney Mark Smith, who represented the couple in the case. He said the ruling means that parents and lawyers have no justifiable means for bringing a lawsuit, because litigation costs would far outweigh any potential award. "The courts are well aware of that," he said. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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