Genetic defects in sperm from a sperm bank cannot form the basis for a products liability suit, a federal appeals court has ruled, because allowing such a claim would be tantamount to recognizing a claim of “wrongful life.”
The ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Donovan v. Idant Laboratories upholds a June 2009 decision by U.S. District Judge Thomas N. O’Neill Jr. that rejected claims by both a mother and a daughter who suffers from Fragile X syndrome, a mutation known to cause a group of maladies that include mental retardation and behavioral disorders.
