Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-12-15
GLOUCESTER CO. COURTS.
First M alpractice Case in History OF
Gloucester County.

seth Roberts VS.. Dr. Geo. G. Laws
Before Judge Endicott and Jury on
Tuesday the civil suit Of Seth Roberts
against DIR. Geo G. Laws, also of Pauls-
boro, was tried, Judge Howard Carrow and
VIM Kraft of Camden for Roberts and
Hon. D. @. Watkins, Of this city, for
Laws
Judge Carrow in outlining his case to
the jury said the plaintiff was mechanic
of Paulsboro. while the defendant was
medical doctor of the same place. On
the 4th day of September, 1901, the plain
tiff was riding bicycle and had a fall to
the ground. 1t was no serions injury,
but to be on the safe side, be went to DIR.
Laws, who on examination said he had
broken collar bone; in treating it, and
bending 1T back Roberts felt sharp pain.
Roberts endured this pain for three or four
days, and then took off the bandages, and
went to another doctor who said there was
no bones broken, and never had been
The contention of the plaintiff is that the
wrong diagnoses of the injury by DR..
Laws is responsible for the useless condit-
ion OF Mr. Roberts arm since, so serious is
the injury that the arm is useless and so
great has been his suffering that recently
the nerve had to be removed from the arm.
Mr.. Roberts was the first witness called.
He testified he had lived in Paulsboro 19
years, was a plumber and timer, worked
at his business prior to 1901; an Sept. A,
fell from his bicycle striking his shoulder,
but worked on and finished the job he was
on. Then went to DIR. Laws who gave
him lotion to bathe with On Sept. II,
saw DR.. Laws, on street; when | got home
be was hitching his horse in front of the
house. He came IN and examined my
shoulder and said my shoulder was broken.
He then went away and soon cane back
and bandaged my shoulder the elbow 50
close to the back that / cried out that
hurts me- That was the first pain | had.
Had the bandage on from Wednesday to
Saturday. The pain continued until last
August, when / had the nerve taken out.
/ told the doctor this arm was killing me,
and asked him to take the bandages off !;
he said will fix you all right, you'll have
to stand it. On Saturday my wife took
the bandages off.
Plaintiff said his business losses had been
$50 month, perhaps more, since the arm
was bandaged.
On cross-examiuaIion by Mr.. Watkins,
he said DR.. Laws had been his family ply
sician for 10 years. Afterward he went to
Drs Pounds and Reeves, and then to JEFF
ferson hospital Dir. Reeves said he
couldn't cure it and DIR. Pounds said there
was only one thing to do and that was to
remove the nerve. Prof. Horwitz advised
me to carry my arm in a sling as long as
lived
On redirect examination he said that
when doctor Laws bound up his shoulder;
he had no pain in the shoulder, and never
had any in the arm Or elbow until after it
was bound up by Doctor Laws.
DIX w D. Bailey, of Camden, surgeon
of IA years experience, graduate of JET
ferson College, native of Pausboro, tes-
titled that Roberts came to him several
months before the operation, on August
10, last and he found an aggravated or
chronic condition of the ulna nerve. Ex-
amined his arm and collar bone, found no
evidence of fracture Of the collar bone and
there had been none; such bandaging as
Roberts underwent, would set up an in
flamation that would cause such an injury
as Roberts had, for which there is no cure.
He took out about four inches Of that nerve
and produced it in court, in bottle, which
was handed to the jury Ii man worked
with arm in such condition as Roberts was
in, must do so in great agony.
Under cross-examinaton DIR. Bailey said
the injury to the nerve could have occur ed
by a fall from bicycle, but the nerye was
protected by grove in the bone, it was
unlikely to so occur. The operation as
performed was the only remedy for the
trouble
Under redirect examination he said il
Roberts, in his fall from the bicycle, struck
on his shoulder, he could not have struck
the ulna nerve; had he struck it, he would
have known it at once, by the sharp pain
that would follow.
BY courtesy Of the plaintiff, doctor Will
liam White, for the last ten years Professor
Of Surgeney at the University Of Pennsyl-
vania, was called for the defendant, and
testified. He said, Dr. Laws treatment on
Sept 4, by giving a wash of laudanum and
sugar Of lead, was usual in such cases. The
treatment Of DR.. Laws in dressing the
shoulder ON Sept. II, the Professor also
said was correct, and could not have pro-
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