Ohio House OKs ban on pregnancy disputes (wrongful-birth suits)

[mtnester]

<snip>
Ten days after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that parents of children with birth defects can sue doctors for failing to identify the abnormalities during pregnancy, the House approved a bill that would ban such lawsuits. The bill now goes to Gov. Bob Taft, who is expected to sign it.

The premise of wrongful-birth lawsuits is that parents would have terminated the pregnancies had they been given accurate information about the health of the fetus. The Supreme Court said in a 4-3 decision that parents can sue on such grounds but can collect only the costs of the pregnancy and birth, not the price tag of raising a disabled child.

<snip>
"The premise of this type of lawsuit is that death is preferable to life with a disability. That is unconscionable to me," said Rep. Jim Aslanides, a Coshocton Republican

Parents still could sue if a doctor knowingly withholds infor- mation about the health of a fetus. Still, opponents have argued that the bill would let doctors off the hook for making mistakes and deny parents the right to make a legal choice about their pregnancy.


http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/15/20060315-A1-03.html

[rodeodance]

1. Legislators obviously see this a 'frivolous" law suits. The Two America's

again at play--as those with insurance will be able to have tests done.

[NashVegas]

4. Without Knowing All The Details ...

Diagnostic medicine is still an imperfect science. We don't know if this was a case of sheer incompetance, we don't know if this was a case of a child being so malformed it couldn't make it past the first year, or just wasn't "perfect" enough.

[fasttense]

2. Well don't you know that is why medical costs are so high?

It's because of all those law suits from ungrateful patients. You don't need accurate medical information or even competent doctors. That's reserved for the upper class elite. :sarcasm:

[mtnester]

3. My own issues with this are this

How to prove a doctor wrongly interpreted tests (and if so, he/she is protected under this law) or that the doctor wrongly interpreted the tests ON PURPOSE because he/she knew the decision would have been made to terminate the pregnancy, and that violated his/her religious beliefs (ALSO now protected cause how do you PROVE this)

Another decision that only a woman should make about her body being not only tampered with by others, but protects those with LAW on those who could possibly deliberately withheld this info as described above.

[bleedingheart]

6. there are rather solid ways to determine whether the MD is at fault

typically the methods of proof are the lack of initiative on the MD's end.

1. Some women were not offered the Maternal Fetal Alpha Protein test, an indicator or diseases like spina bifida and downs. That test alone can help determine what is wrong.
2. Accurate measurment of fetal growth, sonogram, fundal measurements...etc
3. bleeding during pregnancy with no follow up testing to determine why.


The Physician's record will prove what actions he/she took.

Now there are cases that just allude the doctors but in those cases the evidence of their due diligence will back them up.

[mtnester]

10. I am absolutely sure that is true..however, if you cannot SUE over it

how would you be able to determine that your tests were:

1. Performed
2. Interpreted correctly/competently? (or even ATTEMPTED to)

Scares me kiddo! This is NOT about lawsuits..it is about allowing doctors to protect their religious ideology at the expense of women.

[yardwork]

5. Some doctors are deliberately withholding information

There are cases of doctors telling their obstetric patients that "everything is fine" when they know that the test results indicate otherwise. By withholding the information or flat-out lying about the results, they intend to prevent the woman from choosing to abort.

[mtnester]

7. And are now LEGALLY protected if they choose this route n/t

[Ilsa]

8. It's safer to have a baby in a couple dozen of other

countries compared to the US. Hey, join the army and have your baby in Germany! :sarcasm:

God Almighty, what an immoral law. Before long they won't even bother offering the tests for determination of a problem.

[mtnester]

9. Exactly! n/t