Shaheen v. Knight
Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County
11 Pa. D. & C.2d 41 (1957)
After Dr. Knight (defendant) performed a vasectomy on Shaheen (plaintiff) that proved unsuccessful, Shaheen's wife became pregnant, and Shaheen sued for breach of contract, seeking as damages the cost of raising the resulting child; Dr. Knight raised several defenses, including that the contract was void as against public policy, that no implied warranty of cure exists in medicine, that no malpractice or negligence was alleged, that the claim wasn't properly pled as deceit, that a doctor's duty doesn't arise in contract, and that Shaheen suffered no true damages given the birth of a child.
Whether a person contracting with his doctor to perform a vasectomy can recover the expense of having to raise a child conceived because the vasectomy is unsuccessful.