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Full-Text Articles in Law
Wrongful Birth; Preconception Torts; Duty To Inform Of Genetic Risks; Becker V. Schwartz, Gail White Sweeney
Wrongful Birth; Preconception Torts; Duty To Inform Of Genetic Risks; Becker V. Schwartz, Gail White Sweeney
Akron Law Review
Both pairs of parents sued on their own behalfs for (1) the expenses incurred in the care and treatment of the infants and for (2) the mental distress caused them by the birth of a defective child. They also sought damages on behalf of the children for (3) wrongful life. The Court of Appeals acknowledged the first claim as valid, but dismissed the second and third. It dismissed the claims for damages for emotional distress on the precedent of its 1977 decision in Howard v. Lecher and upon the difficulty of ascertaining the value of mitigated damages prescribed by Restatement …
Wrongful Life, Turpin V. Sortini, Janet A. Laufer
Wrongful Life, Turpin V. Sortini, Janet A. Laufer
Akron Law Review
In the past fifteen years, several state appellate courts have considered wrongful birth and wrongful life causes of action. While the modern trend is to allow wrongful birth causes of action, few courts have permitted wrongful life actions to be maintained. On May 3, 1982, the California Supreme Court, in Turpin v. Sortini became the first state high court to allow a wrongful life cause of action. This casenote will examine the reasoning of the Turpin court in allowing the wrongful life claim. While Turpin appears to signal a new trend in this area of tort law, there is little …