Re: South Carolina Supreme Court Dismisses 'Wrongful Life' Lawsuit on Behalf of Boy With Hydrocephalus
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Wed Dec 22 11:55:43 2004
Thank God this case was not tried in the Peoples' Republic of Brooklyn.
art
At Wed, 22 Dec 2004, art fougner, md wrote:
>
>..
>
>South Carolina Supreme Court Dismisses 'Wrongful Life' Lawsuit on Behalf of Boy
>With Hydrocephalus
>
>Access this story and related links online:
>
>http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=27363
>
>The South Carolina Supreme Court on Monday unanimously dismissed a "wrongful
>life" lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed she was denied the choice to abort
>her son because she was not told he had maximal hydrocephalus, the Columbia
>State reports.
>
>Jennie Willis, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of her now eight-year-old son,
>said she would have legally aborted the fetus had she known during her
>pregnancy of the condition, which is characterized by excess fluid in the head
>and the absence of cerebral hemispheres that control thinking, speaking and
>motor control, according to the State. In court papers, Willis said that Dr.
>Donald Wu, an OB/GYN, in 1995 failed to tell her about the condition before the
>state's 24 weeks gestation limit for legal abortion. Wu claimed in court papers
>that he alerted Willis to a potential problem with the pregnancy after a third
>ultrasound at 22 weeks gestation and ordered her to undergo tests by a
>specialist, which she did not do (Brundrett, Columbia State, 12/21). The court
>said although it recognized the "extremely severe nature" of the child's
>disability, it would not accept the wrongful life claim, the AP/Fox Carolina
>reports.
>
>"Even a jury collectively imbued with the wisdom of Solomon would be unable to
>weigh the fact of being born with a defective condition against the fact of not
>being born at all," Associate Justice E.C. Burnett wrote for the court, adding,
>"It is simply beyond the human experience." South Carolina, along with 27 other
>states, have either rejected or limited wrongful life claims, meaning children
>born with disabilities cannot sue doctors for failing to inform pregnant women
>about their conditions, the court said, according to the AP/Fox Carolina.
>Willis plans to pursue a separate suit claiming that Wu did not inform her of
>the condition, according to the AP/Fox Carolina. The Supreme Court did not rule
>on that issue on Monday (AP/Fox Carolina, 12/21).
--
art fougner, md
ich bin ein New Yorker
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