Court Opinion

ID: 9756799
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:58:41.169426+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:30.997591
License: Public Domain

Concueeing Opinion by
Me. Justice Bell:
I do not believe that the evidence clearly and indisputably shows that plaintiff’s injuries were caused by something which was in the exclusive control of the defendant. Even more important, the present statement of the doctrine of exclusive control is far too broad. See the concurring opinion in Kotal v. Goldberg, 375 Pa. 397, 405, 100 A. 2d 630, for a comprehensive review of the exclusive control doctrine and the few cases *442which have applied and the very many cases which have wisely refused to apply it, as well as when such principle should apply; see also the recent decision in Robinson v. Wirts, 387 Pa. 291, 127 A. 2d 706, where this Court again refused to apply the doctrine to a surgeon who was performing a gastroscopic examination with a gastroscope, which was under the surgeon’s exclusive control at the time it caused the perforation of plaintiff’s esophagus.
However, the evidence in my judgment was sufficient to take the case to the jury on the question of defendant’s negligence and plaintiff’s contributory negligence, and for this reason I agree with the majority that defendant was not entitled to a judgment non obstante veredicto.