NY Top Court Bars Mom’s Emotional Harm Claim for Prebirth Injury

A New York doctor can’t be held liable for a mother’s emotional distress following in-utero injuries to a baby subsequently born alive, but who died soon after, the state’s top court said.

Precedent holding that a mother can’t recover for her emotional suffering due to medical malpractice that caused prebirth injuries to a child who was born alive applies to a claim alleging a lack of informed consent, a split New York Court of Appeals said Tuesday. A lack of informed consent claim is a type of medical malpractice claim because it seeks damages for injuries resulting from the breach ...