Partner, Barbara D. Goldberg and Senior Associate, Amy Korn obtained a pre-answer dismissal of a Complaint in Supreme Court, Westchester County which alleged that the plaintiff-parents were within the “zone of danger” in witnessing the at-home premature delivery and of their twins. The Court accepted MCB’s arguments that the plaintiffs were not within the zone of danger as contemplated by cases such as Bovson v. Sanperi, since the alleged negligence was not contemporaneous with the circumstances giving rise to the plaintiffs emotional distress. Additionally, in agreeing with our position, the Court reinforced that where alleged medical malpractice causes in utero injury to a fetus that is born alive, a mother cannot recover damages for emotional harm.
Additionally, MCB secured dismissal of claims that the plaintiff-mother sustained an independent physical injury, and the Court agreed that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate an injury beyond those naturally experienced in childbirth.