Legal Method - Case Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Legal Method - Case Summary - Essay Example The Court of Appeal also found that negligence could be inferred. The defendant then appealed to the HKC. The legal issue at the heart of this case was the extent to which the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur can be successfully claimed in relation to the facts of the case and the trial judge’s ruling. Pursuant to the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the defendant would be liable if upon the evidence presented, it was found that the injury complained of, was such that it would not have occurred but for the defendant’s negligence and injury itself was within the parameters of the defendant’s duty of care relative to the plaintiff. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur is especially relevant in medical cases alleging negligence where the plaintiff is not conscious and the medical professional administers care that is presumably within his/her knowledge and outside of the plaintiff’s knowledge. The res ipsa loquitur operates to establish causation and was therefore the legal issue at the center of the case. The plaintiff had surgery for prostate cancer on the lower part of his body and immediately after discovered that he had sustained a serious nerve injury to his left arm, an injury that he did not have prior to going into surgery. The injury was diagnoses as left radial nerve palsy. Since the injury was not associated with, nor in the vicinity of the surgery, the presumption was that the injury occurred during the anesthetist’s care. Moreover, the trial judge found that the injury was sustained while the plaintiff was under the effects of the anesthesia. It therefore followed that the injury occurred in circumstances where the patient/plaintiff was under the care of the anesthetist, albeit while in surgery. The factual issue in dispute was whether or not the injury occurred as a result of compression to the injury area and whether or not that