Even if a physician is not physically negligent, he or she can still be sued by a patient for emotional distress. That's according to a ruling issued by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania last week.

The ruling stems from a medical malpractice-related case in which a woman claimed her doctor intentionally inflicted emotional distress by failing to warn her that she might be shocked by the deformities of her newborn son. The woman sought noneconomic damages, and similar lawsuits are likely to follow in the wake of the ruling.

According to Medical Daily, the woman sued the physician and Chester County Hospital. The doctor had apparently told the woman the results of an ultrasound were normal and did not warn her about her baby's abnormalities. The child was born with no legs below the knees, no arms below the elbows and suffered from other abnormalities, including a delayed growth of the jaw.

The woman argued that seeing her son without any warning caused her to suffer grief, hysteria, rage, nausea, anxiety and nightmares, among other things. The court agreed that it was foreseeable that the woman would suffer trauma and emotional distress.

The court's ruling opens the door to lawsuits filed by family members who are shocked by a loved one's condition. It also sheds light on how the relationship between patients and doctors is defined.

In our next post, we'll take a closer look at this issue, and about how a trend is forming regarding emotional distress claims nationwide.

Source: Medical Daily, "Doctors can be sued for emotional distress even without physical negligence," Christine Hsu, Jan. 31, 2012