| Wrongful life refers to the fact that the doctor’s not diagnosed the birth defects of the fetus or has not reasonably informed to the parents of the situation.Finally,the defective child is born,and the child who is born with disability brings a claim suit against the doctor as the plaintiff.Such cases first occurred in the United States in the middle of the 20th century,and then some cases gradually appeared in various countries.In recent years,the number of wrongful life cases in our country has also been on the rise.There is still much debate among scholars and courts in various countries as to whether the claim for damages for wrongful life infringement should be admitted:whether the claim for damages of a defective child is detrimental to the value of life;and if the claim for compensation for a defective child is recognized,then what kind of rights and interests of the defective children are infringed,whether there is causality and how to calculate the damages are all problems to be solved.Defective children’s birth mostly dues to genetic problems of their parents,however,with the increasing popularity of intrauterine treatment techniques,many birth defects can be reduced or even cured by the treatment during their fetal period.The medical institutions make negligently disabled children lost their opportunities to treat and thus increase the financial and psychological distress of the future life of children with defects,so whether medical institutions should give corresponding compensation within the scope of their faults?The answer is yes.Life is priceless,but what we are pursuing is a sound life.The claim for wrongful life infringement damages in our country is ethical,legal and realistic,and also conforms to the trend of legislative development and the law of the current law.The negligence of medical institutions infringes on the opportunities of defective children to get treatment during their fetal period,and the loss of the opportunity benefit is actually a violation of the personality interests of the defective children.With the development of the law,the protection of the fetus’s civil rights and interests has been increasingly improved.We recognize that the right of claims for wrongful life tort damages is a respect for life and human rights.Because of negligence,the medical institution loses the opportunity to reduce or even cure the physical defect of the defective child,and there is a causal relationship between the tort and the damage suffered by the defective child,which conforms to the constitutive requirements of the tort liability.Medical institutions shall bear the corresponding liability for damages within the scope of their liability.The scope of damages for medical institutions should include compensation for property damages and compensation for spiritual damages.Compensation for the loss of cure for the impaired child itself and the material expenses and mental suffering derived from the loss of the benefits of the cure are mainly compensated.The amount of compensation should be calculated taking into account the rate of loss of opportunity,the degree of fault in the medical establishment,predictability and the cost of opportunity benefits,etc.in order to establish a reasonable and fair amount of compensation. |
