Why does it seem that every other country in the world has its head screwed on better than the US?
A Norwegian court has awarded damages to disabled child for having been born. The child's parents had informed a midwife at the Leiden University Medical Centre that a relative of the father was disabled because of a chromosomal abnormality. But the midwife reassured them and did not carry out further prenatal diagnostic tests or refer the case to a clinical geneticist. The abnormality was therefore not detected early enough and Kelly was born with multiple mental and physical disabilities. She cannot walk, talk, or properly recognise her parents; has deformed feet; is believed to be in constant pain; and has had several heart operations. The court accepted that damage to Kelly and her parents resulted from the midwife's error. A referral to a clinical geneticist would have resulted in an abortion and Kelly would not have been born. Damages against the hospital amounting to the cost of Kelly's care and upbringing until her 21st birthday were awarded to her parents. But the court went further, ruling that Kelly herself was liable to damages. The court judged that the damage experienced by Kelly was in a legal sense a predictable consequence of the midwife's mistake. Therefore the court accepted the possibility of a claim for wrongful life.
This is fucking fantastic. One more move towards making the medical profession aware of what their responcibility really is - the prevention of problems - including lives that are non-functional. A pregnancy may not be a disease - but a defective genetic sequence certiantlly is, and it is one there is no cure for but death. Better to prevent it, especially in such a sevear case, than to condem a life to that much suffering.
I will use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment; I will abstain from harming or wrongdoing any man by it. Sound Familar!??
So what if the next part of the oath is now nolonger in application, nor is the rest of the majority of it, this is the one section that ALL medical professionals should adhear to.
Is not the introdcution of a life that is nothing but pain and suffering, as well as a drain on the parents and society, the ultimate harm to that child, who otherwise would never have been born?
A Norwegian court has awarded damages to disabled child for having been born. The child's parents had informed a midwife at the Leiden University Medical Centre that a relative of the father was disabled because of a chromosomal abnormality. But the midwife reassured them and did not carry out further prenatal diagnostic tests or refer the case to a clinical geneticist. The abnormality was therefore not detected early enough and Kelly was born with multiple mental and physical disabilities. She cannot walk, talk, or properly recognise her parents; has deformed feet; is believed to be in constant pain; and has had several heart operations. The court accepted that damage to Kelly and her parents resulted from the midwife's error. A referral to a clinical geneticist would have resulted in an abortion and Kelly would not have been born. Damages against the hospital amounting to the cost of Kelly's care and upbringing until her 21st birthday were awarded to her parents. But the court went further, ruling that Kelly herself was liable to damages. The court judged that the damage experienced by Kelly was in a legal sense a predictable consequence of the midwife's mistake. Therefore the court accepted the possibility of a claim for wrongful life.
This is fucking fantastic. One more move towards making the medical profession aware of what their responcibility really is - the prevention of problems - including lives that are non-functional. A pregnancy may not be a disease - but a defective genetic sequence certiantlly is, and it is one there is no cure for but death. Better to prevent it, especially in such a sevear case, than to condem a life to that much suffering.
I will use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment; I will abstain from harming or wrongdoing any man by it. Sound Familar!??
So what if the next part of the oath is now nolonger in application, nor is the rest of the majority of it, this is the one section that ALL medical professionals should adhear to.
Is not the introdcution of a life that is nothing but pain and suffering, as well as a drain on the parents and society, the ultimate harm to that child, who otherwise would never have been born?
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