Wrongful life lawsuits are an emerging issue, especially for clinicians involved in reproductive health.
General features:
(1) a person is alive but has a miserable life
(2) a clinician or parent is responsible for the person being alive
(3) that clinician or parent should compensate the person for pain and suffering
Usual scenario:
(1) fetal defect identified but parents not informed so an abortion could not be performed
(2) failure to diagnose a congenital defect
(3) failure of the mother to get an abortion
Variants might involve:
(1) failure of contraceptive method
(2) person resuscitated despite a valid DNR order.
