Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Neonatology and the Law

  • Chapter
Neonatology

  • 360 Accesses

Abstract

Neonatology is an area of medicine that has received much attention in recent years. This interest primarily concerns the constant progress in this field and the inherent ethical and medico legal problems. The extensive debate about some issues reflects both the technical and scientific progress that has been made in neonatology. Tightly argued issues such as medical malpractice litigation have reached crisis proportions in the neonatology and pediatrics. Moreover pediatric claims are very expensive because damages cover the life of the child and the juries tend to be very sympathetic toward children and their families [1]. Care of extremely preterm infants at the limits of viability and the “brain damaged newborn” are some of the more contentious areas of legal medicine in neonatology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Donn SM (2005) Medical liability, risk management, and the quality of health care. Sem Fetal Neonatal Med 10:3–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Donn SM, Chiswick ML, Whittell P, Anderson S (2003) Medico-legal implications of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. In: Donn SM, Sinha SK, Chiswick ML (eds) Birth asphyxia and the brain: basic science and clinical implications. Futura Publishing, Armonk, NY, pp 379–401

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cowan PJ (2005) Litigation. Sem Fetal Neonatal Med 10:11–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Chiswick M (2008) Infants of borderline viability: ethical and clinical considerations. Sem Fetal Neonatal Med 13:8–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Pinter AB (2008) End-of-life decision before and after birth: changing ethical considerations. J Pediatr Surg 43:430–436

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Sklansky M (2001) Neonatal euthanasia: moral considerations and criminal liability. J Med Ethics 27:5–11

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Pignotti MS, Donzelli G (2008) Perinatal care at the threshold of viability: an international comparison of practical guidelines for the treatment of extremely preterm births. Pediatrics 121:e193–e198

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Sladkevicius P, Saltvedt S, Almström H et al (2005) Ultrasound dating at 12–14 weeks of gestation. A prospective cross-validation of established dating formulae in in-vitro fertilized pregnancies. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 26:504–511

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Janvier A, Barrington KJ, Aziz K, Lantos J (2008) Ethics ain’t easy: do we need simple rules for complicated ethical decisions? Acta Paediatr 97:402–406

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Doyle LW, Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group (2001) Outcome at 5 years of age of children 23 to 27 weeks’ gestation: refining the prognosis. Paediatrics 108:134–141

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Chervenak FA, McCullough LB, Levene MI (2007) An ethically justified, clinically comprehensive approach to peri-viability: gynaecological, obstetric, perinatal and neonatal dimensions. J Obstet Gynaecol 27:3–7

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Allen MC (2008) Neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants. Curr Opin Neurol 21:123–128

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. April C, Parker M (2007) End of life decision-making in neonatal care. J Med Ethics 33:126–127

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Savulescu J, Kahane G (2009) The moral obligation to create children with the best chance of the best life. Bioethics 23:274–290

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Janvier A, Leblanc I, Barrington KJ (2008) The best-interest standard is not applied for neonatal resuscitation decisions. Pediatrics 121:963–969

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Janvier A, Bauer KL, Lantos JD (2007) Are newborns morally different from older children? Theor Med Bioethics 28:413–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Turillazzi E, Fineschi V (2009) How old are you? Newborn gestational age discriminates neonatal resuscitation practices in the Italian debate. BMC Med Ethics 12:10–19

    Google Scholar 

  18. Fanaroff AA (2008) Extremely low birthweight infants-the interplay between outcomes and ethics. Acta Paediatr 97:144–145

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. MacLennan A (1999) A template for defining a causal relation between acute intrapartum events and cerebral palsy: international consensus statement. BMJ 319:1054–1059

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Graham EM, Ruis KA, Hartman AL et al (2008) A systematic review of the role of intrapartum hypoxia-ischemia in the causation of neonatal encephalopathy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 199:587–595

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Greenwood C, Newman S, Impey L et al (2003) Cerebral palsy and clinical negligence litigation: a cohort study. BJOG 110:6–11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Freeman RK (2008) Medical and legal implications for necessary requirements to diagnose damaging hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy leading to later cerebral palsy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 199:585–586

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Paneth N (2001) Cerebral palsy in term infants-birth or before birth? J Pediatr 138:791–792

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Blair E, Stanley FJ (1997) Issues in the classification and epidemiology of cerebral palsy. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 3:184–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Nielsen LF, Schendel D, Grove J et al (2008) Asphyxia-related risk factors and their timing in spastic cerebral palsy. BJOG 115:1518–1528

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Folkerth RD (2007) The neuropathology of acquired pre-and perinatal brain injuries. Semin Diagn Pathol 24:48–57

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Squier W (2002) Pathology of fetal and neonatal brain damage: identifying the timing. In: Squier W (ed) Aquired damage to the developing brain, Timing and causation. Arnold, London, pp 110–127

    Google Scholar 

  28. Squier W, Cowan FM (2004) The value of autopsy in determining the cause of failure to respond to resuscitation at birth. Sem Neonatol 9:331–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kadhim H, Evrard P, Kahn A et al (2005) Insights into etiopathogenic mechanisms involved in perinatal cerebral injury: implications for neuroprotection. In: Fong HD (ed) Focus on cerebral palsy research. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, pp 1–26

    Google Scholar 

  30. Riezzo I, Neri M, De Stefano F et al (2010) The timing of perinatal hypoxia/ischemia events in term neonates: a retrospective autopsy study. HSPs, ORP-150 and COX2 are reliable markers to classify acute, perinatal events. Diagn Pathol 5:49

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. McAbee GN, Donn SM, Mendelson RA et al (2008) Medical diagnoses commonly associated with pediatric malpractice lawsuits in the United States. Pediatrics 122:e1282–e1286

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Carroll AE, Buddenbaum JL (2007) Malpractice claims involving pediatricians: epidemiology and etiology. Pediatrics 120:10–17

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Harvard Medical Practice Study (1990) Patients, doctors, and lawyers: medical injury, malpractice litigation, and patient compensation in New York: a report by the Harvard Medical Practice Study to the State of New York. Cambridge, Mass

    Google Scholar 

  34. Kain ZN, Caldwell-Andrews AA (2006) What pediatricians should know about child-related malpractice payments in the United States. Pediatrics 118:464–468

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Turbow R, Fanaroff JM (2006) Legal issues in neonatal-perinatal medicine. In: Martin RJ, Fanaroff AA, Walsh WC (eds) Fanaroff and Martin’s Neonatal-perinatal medicine, 8th edn. Mosby, Philadelphia, vol. 1, pp 47–62

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Legal Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy

    Vittorio Fineschi

Authors
  1. Vittorio Fineschi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emanuela Turillazzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine, Division of Neonatology, University of Siena General Hospital S. Maria alle Scotte Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese, Siena, Italy

    Giuseppe Buonocore (Professor of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Head of School of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Head of School of Pediatrics)

  2. University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Rodolfo Bracci (Formerly Professor of Pediatrics and Head of Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine) (Formerly Professor of Pediatrics and Head of Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine)

  3. University of Liverpool, UK

    Michael Weindling (Professor of Perinatal Medicine, Director of Postgraduate Research, Head of School of Paediatrics Mersey Deanery) (Professor of Perinatal Medicine, Director of Postgraduate Research, Head of School of Paediatrics Mersey Deanery)

  4. Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Institute of Translational Medicine, Liverpool, UK

    Michael Weindling (Professor of Perinatal Medicine, Director of Postgraduate Research, Head of School of Paediatrics Mersey Deanery) (Professor of Perinatal Medicine, Director of Postgraduate Research, Head of School of Paediatrics Mersey Deanery)

  5. Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK

    Michael Weindling (Professor of Perinatal Medicine, Director of Postgraduate Research, Head of School of Paediatrics Mersey Deanery) (Professor of Perinatal Medicine, Director of Postgraduate Research, Head of School of Paediatrics Mersey Deanery)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Italia

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Fineschi, V., Turillazzi, E. (2012). Neonatology and the Law. In: Buonocore, G., Bracci, R., Weindling, M. (eds) Neonatology. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1405-3_30

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1405-3_30

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

  • Print ISBN: 978-88-470-1404-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-88-470-1405-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation