There have been a number of recent cases relevant to obstetrics
and women's health. This article briefly summarises some of the
relevant cases and draws from them lessons to be learned.
IVF
In medical malpractice law 'wrongful life' cases are
different from 'wrongful birth' cases.
In 'wrongful life' cases, the courts have been reluctant
to award damages for the loss of opportunity to terminate a
pregnancy (for example, when failing to inform a patient that she
had rubella during pregnancy) because choosing whether it is better
to have a 'state of non-existence' compared to a 'life
with disabilities' or to be a 'comparable healthy
person' would be impossible and implicitly denigrates the value
of human existence: Harriton v Stephens [2006] HCA 15.
