Whitehouse v Jordan

Whitehouse v Jordan [1981] 1 All ER 267: The claimant was a baby born in Birmingham who suffered severe brain damage after a difficult birth. The defendant, a senior hospital registrar, was supervising delivery in a high-risk pregnancy. After the mother had been in labour for 22 hours, the defendant used forceps to assist the delivery.[1][2]

The Lords found that the doctor's standard of care did not fall below that of a reasonable doctor in the circumstances, and so the baby was awarded no compensation.[2]

It has been called a "leading case in medical negligence".[2] Perhaps the most surprising legacy of the case has been its use of Bayes' theorem from statistics.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Gerber, Paul (1 April 1983). "Whitehouse v. Jordan A forceps delivery by advocates". Medical Journal of Australia. 1 (7): 326–328. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Watt, James (1 July 1995). "Whitehouse v. Jordan". Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management. 1 (4): 157–159. doi:10.1177/135626229500100408. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  3. ^ "New and Old: A New Approach to the Evidence in Whitehouse v. Jordan". Medical Law International. 3: 261–272. 1998. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
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