Court Opinion

ID: 9737184
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:18:23.628887+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:23:57.096580
License: Public Domain

DEL SOLE, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent from the conclusion of the Majority that the trial court erred in not charging the jury on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. I believe that the doctrine is not applicable in this case.
The Majority sets forth the doctrine as found in the Restatement of Torts. However, the doctrine of res ipsa applies only in those cases where there is no evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant. In this case, the *11Appellant introduced evidence at the trial to establish the negligence of the defendant. Specifically, the plaintiffs expert, Dr. Richard Bassin, gave his opinion that the standard of care of the Appellant was unacceptable. Dr. Bassin testified as follows:
Q. [By Mr. Cohen] Doctor, do you have an opinion with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, whether or not Dr. Pareso’s surgery fell below an acceptable and reasonable medical standard in this case?
A. Yes, I have an opinion.
Q. What is that opinion?
A. My opinion is that it fell below the standard of care.
Q. Why?
A. Because in performing surgery, the recurrent laryngeal nerve on the left side was traumatized, and the patient now has permanent paralysis of the vocal cord, and that is below the standard of care.
Q. Could this recurrent laryngeal nerve be traumatized or stretched, or cut, if the physician is utilizing a reasonable standard of care?
A. No, it can’t.
Q. What about if there are complications, like bleeding or something unforeseen?
A. In this case, there wasn’t anything unforeseen. You read the operative report, it says there wasn’t any excessive bleeding and there weren’t any problems, so the answer is no.
Q. Doctor, did you consider any other possible causes, reasonable possible causes, for Marlene’s permanently paralyzed vocal cord, other than an error by Dr. Pareso in this case?
A. I considered every possible cause, and the only cause that exists is that the recurrent laryngeal nerve was injured____
Q. Doctor, is vocal cord paralysis a risk of thyroid surgery?
A. Yes.
*12Q. Why do you say that?
A. Because if the surgeon injures the recurrent laryngeal nerve, you can get paralysis of the vocal cords.
Q. Can it be injured in any other way than an error by the physician?
A. No....
Q. Doctor, do you have an opinion within a reasonable degree of medical certainty whether or not Marlene’s permanent vocal cord paralysis was directly caused by Dr. Pareso’s surgical technique?
A. Yes, I have an opinion.
Q. What is that opinion?
A. That it was.
N.T. pp. 71-74.
Where, as here, the Appellant has introduced evidence of the defendant’s negligence, then the doctrine of res ipsa does not apply. The doctrine’s purpose is to provide evidence of negligence where none can be established, but the incident in question is one that could not occur without the defendant’s negligence. Here, the Appellant has clearly introduced evidence seeking to directly establish defendant’s negligence. As a result, in my judgment, the trial court did not err in denying the instruction. I would affirm the judgment.