Biles v. North East Thames Regional Health Authority and Another, 30 October 1987

The plaintiff was a woman who had been sterilized as a teenager after her physician had wrongly told her that having a baby could kill her. The defendant admitted negligence, but contested the amount of damages. The Court ruled for the plaintiff and awarded damages for probable permanent infertility, for the physical pain and suffering endured in various operations and examinations undergone to try to help the plaintiff conceive, and for scarring as a result of the sterilization. It also awarded damages for impairment of sexual function, for emotional pain and suffering, and for future expenses for in-vitro fertilization and psychotherapy and psychosexual therapy.