Earlier this month I noted that French gynecologists were refusing to do ultrasound scans for new patients after a French judge ruled in favor of a child who sued on the grounds that he never should have been born. An ultrasound scan failed to catch the boy’s birth defect, and he argued successfully in court that since his mother would have aborted him had she known about the birth defect, he was due compensation from the gynecologist who performed the scan.

France’s parliament passed a bill just a few days after the announced strike that affirms that “nobody can claim to have been harmed simply by being born.” The bill will still allow parents to seek damages, but only if they can prove that a doctor made a “blatant error” in interpreting the ultrasound scan.

Source:

France rejects ‘right not to be born.’ The BBC, January 10, 2002.

Last summer, France became the first country to my knowledge to rule that there was such a thing as a right not to be born. Now, French gynecologists are refusing to do ultrasound scans of pregnant women out of fears they will be held liable if they make a mistake.

In the case that set this precedent, a gynecologist doing an ultrasound did not notice that the fetus had Down’s Syndrome. The child sued the doctors on the grounds that his mother would have aborted him if she had known he would have Down’s. The child won in court and France’s highest appellate court upheld the verdict.

Since then, three other cases have been allowed to proceed where doctors are beings ued on behalf of children with birth defects that may have been detectable in ultraound procedures.

In response, gynecologists are refusing to perform ultrasound scans on any newly pregnant women (though they will perform scans on pregnant women who are already under their care). The doctors rightly note that even when performed correctly, there is no guarantee that a potential birth defect will be detected by ultrasound techniques. It is a very useful tool, but hardly a magic bullet for detecting things like Down’s Syndrome.

According to the BBC, the French government plans to offer some sort of protection from liability for gynecologists, but when this might happen remains to be seen. In the meantime, the odd result of the “right not to exist” cases is that they will likely put many more children at risk by turning a useful diagnostic tool into a weapon with which to bludgeon and bankrupt doctors.

Source:

Scan strike by French doctors. The BBC, January 3, 2002.