Here's an interesting story.  What are your opinions on this article?  
Should the doctor be obligated to pay for the "costs of raising and educating" the child?
Will this open the door for similar situations? (i.e. failed birth control pills, sponges, IUDs, condoms, etc.)
On that note, would men challenging child support charges be able to sue manufacturers for faulty products or doctors for unreliable vasectomies or their partner's failed tubal ligations?
I'm interested to see your comments.  cs

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Court: mother can't sue over failed sterilization
04/17/2003
Associated Press

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that a DeKalb County mother cannot sue the doctor who performed her failed sterilization for child-rearing expenses.

Heather Seslar of Butler was a 27-year-old married mother of four when she decided in 1998 to be surgically sterilized. She later became pregnant, and gave birth in August 1999.

In her lawsuit, she alleged that Dr. Kenneth Chaffee was negligent in performing the failed medical procedure, and sought to have him to pay the costs of raising and educating the child.

The Indiana Court of Appeals, in a 3-0 decision in July, sided with Seslar, saying her lawsuit could go forward against Chaffee, who has not been found to be negligent in the case.

But the state's high court reversed the appellate ruling, finding instead that the birth of a child does not constitute harm.

"Although raising an unplanned child, or any child for that matter, is costly, we nevertheless believe that all human life is presumptively invaluable," the decision said.

"We ... hold that the value of a child's life to the parents outweighs the associated pecuniary burdens as a matter of law."

The court's ruling means Seslar can sue for pregnancy and child-bearing expenses only.

Attorneys in the case had not seen the decision Wednesday, and declined to comment.

Tuesday's 3-2 ruling aligns Indiana with most of the other states on the issue, allowing only pregnancy and delivery costs to be recovered.

Two Indiana justices dissented, including Justice Robert Rucker, who would apply the same analysis used for other medical malpractice cases.

"If Seslar proves negligence then she is entitled to damages proximately caused by the ... breach of duty. The expense of raising and educating a child falls in this category," Rucker wrote.

Information from: The Journal-Gazette

IMO if the surgery were performed incorrectly, then she should be due something like anyone else who is a victim of malpractice, but certainly not for the raising of her child.

Sex=possibility of pregnancy.

No matter what type of protection you try to take beforehand, there is always a possibility.

I had this surgery, and my doctor informed me that nothing is 100% foolproof when it comes to contraceptive management. Not even surgery.

I think if there were evidence that the surgery was performed incorrectly then may be she has a case.  But if the tubes reconnected themselves, as can happen, then she doesn't have a case.  Given the time scale it sounds as though the surgery wasn't performed correctly.

I'm never sure quite how it is decided how much compensation to pay someone in a medical malpractice case.  How would you work out the costs of raising and educating a child.  It depends where you shop, what school you choose, so many different factors.

Well,  I know when a male has a vasectomy, you have to wait at least 6 months, and have a negative sperm count test (meaning 0 sperm) before having unprotected sex.  I'm not sure if there is such a timeframe for females.  I would think that there IS to make sure the tubes have sealed correctly.  However, prior to the surgery, I'm sure she had to sign a waiver stating that it is not 100%, there is a possibility of the tubes reattaching, etc.  Or, maybe her hubby just has strong swimmers. ;D

If you could sue for birth control failing, I'd have 3 lawsuits as I became pregnant with all of my children while taking birth control pills, and 2 out of 3, we were also using condoms (with spermicide) as I was on antibiotics.  

We have a couple of similar court cases happening in Australia at the moment.

One is for a failed Implanon implant and the other is for a failed tubal ligation.

Yes I do agree that you should be able to sue for a failed medical procedure....

BUT - it seriously p.i.s.s.'s me off when the law suit becomes about the cost of raising an unwanted child.  If anyone is so certain they do not want a child (and I should know - I have been on depo provera injections for 10 years) and they have had a method fail on them - there are still other methods available to them - ie the morning after pill and terminations.  

Who wants to be the child in the future - "no huney we never wanted you but when we accidently fell pregnant we saw a great opportunity to score half a mil off a poor ole doctor".

Yes I would be seriously angry if my depo failed on me (and it hasnt in ten years) but I darn well know what I would do if it did.  I would not run to to first lawyer and TV station I could find.  I would go to my nearest clinic and deal with the problem.  

The lawsuit should definately be about the failed surgery - but its still up to the person involved to do something about her own body carrying an unwanted pregnancy in the long run.  People need to start taking responsibility for their own actions and not constantly be out to lame others (and thats my opinion on most frivilous law suits).

Sorry if I sound harsh - its a subject I am very passionate about.  I fought long and hard to successfully have Western Australia's termination laws changed so that women are no longer doing something illegal when they seek a termination.

It it was to go through in court there would be reason for health costs to go even hire.  I sure hope she's letting her child know just how unwanted (s)he was.