Court Says Estates of Stillborn Infants May Sue for Injuries
PHILADELPHIA — 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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