Byrd v. Wesley Medical Center

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Miller, J.:

When a normal, healthy child is born to a mother upon whom an unsuccessful sterilization procedure has been performed, are the costs of rearing and educating the child items of damage which are recoverable in a medical negligence action? That is the primary question posed in this proceeding.

Perhaps for clarity we should point out that we are not concerned here with the ordinary damages arising from a claim of medical malpractice in the performance of a sterilization operation — the expense of the unsuccessful operation, the pain and…