Stribling v. deQuevedo
Decision Date | 11 January 1980 |
Citation | 288 Pa.Super. 436,432 A.2d 239 |
Parties | Phyllis STRIBLING and Howard Stribling v. Donald G. deQUEVEDO and Nestor G. deQuevedo, Appellants. |
Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Paul A. Barrett, Scranton, for appellants.
Thomas J. Foley, Jr., Scranton, for appellees.
Before JACOBS, President Judge, and HOFFMAN, CERCONE, PRICE, VAN der VOORT, SPAETH and HESTER, JJ.
This is an appeal by appellant-physicians, Doctor Donald S. and Nestor G. deQuevedo, from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County that overruled their demurrers to appellee-plaintiffs' complaint for recovery of damages incident to an alleged wrongful birth of their son occurring by reason of the alleged negligence of the physicians. Since the issue involved is one that concerns a "controlling question of law as to which there is a substantial ground for difference of opinion," 1 we allowed the appeal from the interlocutory order. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
The record reveals that appellees, Phyllis and Howard Stribling decided that Phyllis would be sterilized. In December, 1971, Phyllis went to appellants, who performed a bilateral tubal ligation on her and, allegedly, the Striblings were assured of the success of the surgery. Despite the operation, however, Phyllis became pregnant and gave birth to a son in September, 1974. This child was born with dextrocardia, a condition in which one's heart is farther to the right than is normal. The parents allege that this condition will require medical care and treatment.
The parents brought this action in trespass against the physicians based on three counts. In the first count, Phyllis sued for the recovery of her mental and emotional distress and physical pain she suffered at the time of and subsequent to the operation. She also seeks recovery for her lost earnings and earning capacity as the result of the birth of her son. In the second count, Howard, the plaintiff husband, sued the physicians for the medical and rearing expenses he has incurred and will incur relating to the birth of his son, along with recovery for his wife's medical expenses and loss of consortium. The third count also seeks recovery on the child's part for the damages he will sustain as a result of having been born with dextrocardia.
The complaint also alleges that the physicians were negligent in their failure to advise the parents of "the possible sequelae of the operation," in their failure to take the necessary steps to sterilize Phyllis so that she would not become pregnant, in their misrepresentation of the benefits of the operation, and their failure to use the necessary care and skill required of physicians in the community. 2
To this complaint appellants filed preliminary objections, first in the nature of a demurrer alleging that no cause of action existed upon which the parents could claim relief. On a demurrer to the complaint the lower court accepts as true all the pertinent allegations in the complaint when deciding the merits of the preliminary objections. Satchell v. Ins. Placement Fac. of Pa., 241 Pa.Super. 287, 292, 361 A.2d 375 (1975). 3
The lower court overruled the demurrer, holding that to deny the parents a cause of action based on the negligent sterilization procedure would be to excuse these physicians from accountability for one type of operation while they remain accountable for every other type of surgery they perform. 4 This the court held it could not do and instead found that a legally cognizable action at law existed and the demurrer was overruled.
The issue before us now is whether the pleadings in this case set forth a legally cognizable action at law upon which relief can be granted. Until a short time ago, the appellate courts of Pennsylvania had not addressed this issue. However, in our recent case of Speck v. Finegold, 342 Pa.Super. 268, 408 A.2d 496 (1979), we recognized that the parents of a child born subsequent to negligent sterilization and abortion procedures had a right to recover for the costs of rearing the child and medical damages pertaining to the child's condition together with claimed medical, mental and emotional, and physical pain and suffering arising out of the operations. This holding from Speck can be applied to the facts of the instant case.
The Speck case involved parents who feared they would conceive a third child, since the father was affected with the crippling disease of neurofibromatosis and had already transmitted the disease to two of his daughters. The father underwent a vasectomy, after which the doctor (urologist) informed him he would be sterile. Subsequently, his wife became pregnant and underwent an abortion procedure after which the physician (obstetrician) assured the plaintiffs that the pregnancy had been terminated. However, Mrs. Speck then gave birth to her third child who was affected with the crippling hereditary disease of her father. After an exhaustive analysis of the case law from other jurisdictions, we held that the child could not recover for "wrongful life" for three reasons:
"Finally we hold that ... this is not an action cognizable at law." (At p. 364, 408 A.2d at p. 508).
As to the parents' claim for damages for the costs of rearing the child we held that (At p. 364, 408 A.2d at p. 508). In reaching this decision we recognized that the public policy of this Commonwealth, in keeping with the dictates of the United States Supreme Court, permits sterilization procedures. 5 5 In consonance with this view, we carefully considered the precedents from other states which recognize a cause of action for a negligently performed sterilization operation. See, e. g., Becker v. Schwartz, 46 N.Y.2d 401, 413 N.Y.S.2d 895, 386 N.E.2d 807 (1978); Sherlock v. Stillwater Clinic, 260 N.W.2d 169 (Minn.1977); Anonymous v. Hospital, 33 Conn.Sup. 126, 366 A.2d 204 (1976); Bentancourt v. Gaylor, 136 N.J.Super. 69, 344 A.2d 336 (1975); Custodio v. Bauer, 251 Cal.App.2d 303, 59 Cal.Rptr. 463 (1967). 6 Based on these precedents and general principles of tort law, we concluded that in the last analysis, the "plaintiffs' complaint sounds essentially in negligence, tortious breach of contract, and/or medical malpractice," and if the duty towards the plaintiffs could be proved at trial, together with the breach of that duty as it relates to the proximate cause of the injuries to the parents, recovery is available in Pennsylvania. 7
As for the parents' recovery for mental and emotional distress beyond what they suffered as a result of the surgeries, we held in Speck that recovery must be denied. See Becker v. Schwartz, 46 N.Y.2d at 412, 413 N.Y.S.2d at 901, 386 N.E.2d at 813. Specifically we held that:
The facts in the instant case are less complex than those in the Speck case in that the case before us only involves an allegedly negligent sterilization procedure. However, the Speck reasoning is applicable and dispositive of our factual situation. Initially we agree with the lower court's finding that the parents' complaint states a cause of action upon which relief can be granted for the...
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