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| The Society's Objectives |
The object of the Society is to promote Medico-Legal knowledge in all its aspects. This is to be achieved by holding meetings at which papers are read and discussed. Meetings are usually held on the second Thursday of the months of October to June at 7 p.m. at the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, in central London. View the full programme on our programmme page. Continuing education credit for these meeting may be obtained from many organisations, providing excellent value. The official organ of the Society is the Medico-Legal Journal. Please see the contents of the latest issue. View subscription information here |
| Article of the month |
| Damages for the “Unwanted” Child: Time for a Rethink? |
| Dr Nicolette M Priaulx |
| This article is taken from the Medico-Legal Journal, which provides readers with considered and stimulating articles on all aspects of medico-legal theory and practice. |
| If a healthy child born as a result of clinical negligence is a “blessing” which should not resound in child maintenance damages, can one create an exception for the birth of a disabled child? If so, should the law then permit a further exception for the disabled parent of a healthy child? And, even if the healthy child is not the proper subject-matter of damages, is this the same as saying that those who actively sought to avoid parenthood suffer no loss at all? The author considers the relevance to these issues of McFarlane v Tayside Health Board (1999), Parkinson v St James’ (2001) and Rees v Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust (2003). She concludes that the amount of judicial activity since McFarlane demonstrates the controversial and difficult (if not incoherent) nature of that decision, and suggests that the reproductive torts now require a serious rethink. |
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