Court Says Estates of Stillborn Infants May Sue for Injuries
Pennsylvania’s highest court reversed itself Wednesday and ruled that the estates of children born dead may sue doctors for injuries they suffer while in the womb.
The state Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, cited similar changes by 28 other states in deciding to enable the estate of a stillborn infant to receive damages under Pennsylvania’s Wrongful Death and Survival Act.
The court in earlier opinions had acknowledged a child is “an individual, having existence as a separate creature from the moment of conception” but limited damages to those infants who survived birth. The ruling grew out of a lawsuit filed in 1981 against four obstetricians by Joseph and Regina Amadio, whose daughter, Jennifer, fully matured and weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces, was born dead at Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia.
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