In a landmark decision released today, New York's highest Court--the Court of Appeals,held that the deadline or statute of limitations for wrongful birth cases runs or starts from the date of birth of the child--not from the date of the alleged malpractice as is the general rule in medical malpractice cases. In 1978, the Court of Appeals formally recognized a cause of action or claim which allows parents to sue a doctor or hospital to recover the costs of extraordinary medical expenses and care incurred for a child with birth defects. The theory of the claim is the doctors alleged failure to properly warn the parents of their risk in conceiving or giving birth to a child with congenital abnormalities.

The rationale for applying the date of birth (as the starting point for when the lawsuit deadline begins to run) rather than the date of the malpractice, as mandated by statute, is that there can be no viable claim until the baby is born. B.F. v Reproductive Medicine Associates, December 14, 2017