PANORAMA DE LA RESPONSABILIDAD CIVIL DE LOS PROFESIONALES SANITARIOS POR WRONGFUL BIRTH Y WRONGFUL LIFE

during the 20th. century, tort law claims have increased its number and importance, specially in the field of medical malpractice. such an increase has led to new kind of damages, such as the damages related with birth and life in general. this paper studies two of this new birth related claims (namely, wrongful birth and wrongful life claims). the question is if a doctor can be sued for liability when a child is born handicapped or with mental or body diseases and no information was passed on to the parents, during the pregnancy or prior to the conception, regarding the child's serious diseases. to answer that question, the paper analyzes the elements of civil liability in both kinds of claims, coming to the conclusión that damage and causation are the main problems of the parents and the child's claims.