Wilson v. Kuenzi, 17 May 1988.

The parents of a child born with Down's Syndrome brought a wrongful birth action on their own behalf and a wrongful life action on the behalf of their child against their physician, claiming that he had failed to advise the mother of the availability of amniocentesis, thus precluding her from having an abortion to prevent birth. The Court dismissed the actions, ruling that no such actions were recognized in Missouri in 1983, the time that the negligence of the physician was alleged to have occurred. In 1988, other US courts held as follows with respect to wrongful birth, wrongful life, and wrongful pregnancy actions: 1) no recovery allowed for costs of rearing a healthy child born as a result of failed sterilization or abortion (Marciniak vs. Lundborg, Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 15 November 1988 [147 Wis.2d 556]); (Johnson vs. University Hospitals of Cleveland, Court of Appeals of Ohio, 14 January 1988 [1988 Ohio App. Lexis 228]); (Harmath vs. Goler, Court of Appeals of Ohio, 22 December 1988 [1988 Ohio App. Lexis 5196]); (Butler vs. Rolling Hill Hospital, Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia County, 2 March 1988 [17 Phila. 134]); (Goforth vs. Porter Medical Associates, Inc., Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 31 May 1988 [755 P.2d 678]); (Wofford vs. Davis, Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 18 October 1988 [764 P.2d 161]); 2) recovery of expenses allowed for pregnancy, delivery, and pain and suffering, but not for special expenses regarding deformity of child born as the result of a failed tubal ligation (Pitre vs. Opelousas General Hospital, Supreme Court of Louisiana, 12 September 1988 [530 So.2d 1151]); 3) action for wrongful birth not allowed with respect to child born with undiagnosed Down's Syndrome (Rolf vs. Youngblood, Missouri Court of Appeals, 3 May 1988 [753 S.W.2d]); 4) recovery allowed of costs of medical and hospital expenses, physical and mental pain and suffering, lost wages, and punitive damages, but not costs of rearing a healthy child (C.S. vs. Nielson, Supreme Court of Utah, 6 December 1988 [767 P.2d 504]); and 5) recovery of costs of rearing child born with genetic birth defects subsequent to assurances that child would be normal and damages for the mother's emotional distress are allowed, but not extraordinary medical expenses incurred by the child after the parents' death (Gallagher vs. Duke University, US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 28 July 1988 [852 F.2d 773]).