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Doctor to pay child support for mistake
Corlis
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
From the BBC
I would hope, I would really, really hope, that they have good proof that the doctor really was negligent in this case, and this wasn't just some fluke chance of the device failing on its own. Either way, I'd imagine that doctors in Germany may think twice about implanting this thing from now on, and at least require the woman to sign away rights to child support.
One thing I wonder: if this is referred to as Child Support, will his malpractice insurance still pay for this?
The doctor is on the hook for $400 a month until the kid is 18, which makes for $86,000 or so in total.Doctor to pay for unwanted baby
A doctor who carried out a failed contraceptive operation has been ordered by a German court to pay financial support for the child.
The gynaecologist had inserted a patch into the patient's arm, but it failed to prevent pregnancy six months later.
I would hope, I would really, really hope, that they have good proof that the doctor really was negligent in this case, and this wasn't just some fluke chance of the device failing on its own. Either way, I'd imagine that doctors in Germany may think twice about implanting this thing from now on, and at least require the woman to sign away rights to child support.
One thing I wonder: if this is referred to as Child Support, will his malpractice insurance still pay for this?
But I don't mind, as long as there's a bed beneath the stars that shine,
I'll be fine, just give me a minute, a man's got a limit, I can't get a life if my heart's not in it.
I'll be fine, just give me a minute, a man's got a limit, I can't get a life if my heart's not in it.
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It's closer to $800 per month.
I'll be fine, just give me a minute, a man's got a limit, I can't get a life if my heart's not in it.
So the father is going to owe child support, that's good. I'm curious now, does the $800 just cover his share, or just cover some arbitrary measure of the doctor's responsibility, and more will be used to cover the father's share?
The insurance covers it. The doctor does not have to pay it out of his own pocket.
Also it is noteworthy that in this case the support the doctor has to pay (or rather his insurance) is dedicated to the mother to cover her financial loss.
The child itself got no entitlements towards him whatsoever, because the judges reasoned 'one does not have a right of his own contraception'.
Doctors who are doing contraceptive implants are supposed to check to make sure the implant is, in fact, implanted before telling the patient that she's good to go as soon as it kicks in. It takes very little time, and prevents things like this from happening. It also kind of sounds like this might not be going to the mother, but to the father (as he's liable for child support due to this guy's negligence) or to both of them jointly, as a sort of three-way split of the child's costs.
So how is this guy liable?
He implanted a birth control device. They couldn't find said device in her body after she turned up pregnant. He's liable because he didn't make sure the stupid thing was actually implanted. Were the device to have simply failed to prevent the pregnancy, he'd be completely and utterly in the clear.
This makes things much clearer, thanks.
She was beyond the time. Abortion is illegal in Germany but not prercecuted when down within the first 12 weeks.
god, at those prices he can't afford not to
Ah, I didn't know that. I'm somewhat surprised that abortion is illegal in Germany. I'd think we'd hear more prattling about the oppressive patriarchy that hates the wimmins, or something, given how often we here that about the US, where abortion is actually legal.
Which might have played a part in the decision, as implants have an extremely low rate of failure, making it much less likely for a woman to run out and get a pregnancy test the second she misses her period. Had she known she was not protected, even if she didn't use an alternate form of birth control, she could probably have obtained an abortion in time had she believed pregnancy to be a strong possibility.
Nah, it is typical German politics. Make it illegal in theory to not piss off the conservatives but make it not being presecuted in practical to not piss off the liberals.
Just like marihuana. Illegal, but you usually not get charged when caught with less than 5, I think, gramms.
Or our semi gay marriage thing : Other name, no tax benefits but inheritance rights and the partner got the say
in medical decision rather than the family.
Basically it's all a semi liberal mess.
In which case, it sounds like the BBC calling this "child support" is complete bullshit. This is just money awarded two parties who were financially damaged by the doctor's negligence.
Yeah, I find it hard to be perturbed by this. If it had been called "malpractice" and had been a lump sum, nobody would've even blinked.
But that doesn't move papers.
I don't think anyone except the prolifers debate wrongful birth suits in the US. If parents who come in for tests to determine whether or not the fetus is doing fine are told that the fetus is, in fact, doing fine, and the fetus instead is developing into a lifelong drain on their finances due to medical problems that should have been readily apparent thanks to those tests they paid you for, well...that sort of thing is kind of the whole reason we have malpractice insurance.
This baby is pretty lucky his/her/it's mommy has a pretty crafty lawyer.
This is also, coincidentally, an argument for legalizing infanticide. Sometimes the ones you don't want get through.
No, it's somewhat tangential. It's related to the burden of wrongful birth, which would be significantly less were the family allowed to kill the baby (which doctors already do in some cases--for example, often if a Downs Baby has an intestinal blockage they'll refrain from performing what would otherwise be a routine operation to save it).
Edit: not to derail, it was just the first thing that sprung to mind. I've had to do readings on this.