An Introduction to Wrongful Birth Claims - For Clinical Negligence Professionals

Introduction

This webinar presented by Eliot Woolf KC of Outer Temple Chambers and Ian Christian of Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, will act as an important foundation for those who have had little or no exposure to wrongful birth claims to date, but will also provide valuable insight to those who are experienced in the field and want a practical review of those issues which remain contentious in these claims. It will also cover the recent Supreme Court decision in Meadows v Khan [2021].

Wrongful birth claims remain a highly contentious and emotive area of clinical negligence litigation, with many fundamental issues still unresolved at appellate level.

Amongst the issues for careful consideration are whether a distinction should be drawn in principle between ‘wrongful conception’ cases and cases of ‘wrongful antenatal diagnosis/wrongful birth’; whether such claims should be categorised as claims for personal injury or economic loss; the duration of the claims; who should be parties to the litigation and whether QOCS apply to such claims.

This webinar is aimed at Claimant and Defendant solicitors.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• An introduction to the different categories of claim (wrongful birth; wrongful life and claims under the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act 1976)
• A review of the key cases of McFarlane, Parkinson and Rees and the distinction between claims arising from the birth of a healthy child and the birth of a disabled child)
• A summary of the recent Supreme Court decision in Meadows v Khan [2021] and the scope of the duty of care)
• A review of whether these are to be categorised as personal injury or economic loss claims and if so, the relevance to:
• Limitation periods)
• Costs)
• Periodical Payment Orders)
• CRU and state benefits)
• Anonymity
• The typical heads of loss in such claims
• Whether both parents should be parties to the action
• Whether the claims be limited to age 18, the parents’ life or the child’s life

This webinar was recorded on 13th January 2022