Brannon v. Wood
Oregon Supreme Court
444 P.2d 558 (1968)
- Written by Meagan Anglin, JD
Facts
Burton Brannon (plaintiff) went to St. Vincent Hospital to have a tumor removed from his chest by Dr. James Wood (defendant). After the initial surgery, Brannon began severely hemorrhaging and had to return to surgery. During surgery, to stop the hemorrhaging, Dr. Wood used a cellulose substance to pack Brannon’s chest. After this surgery, Dr. Wood discovered Brannon was paralyzed from the waist down, and a subsequent surgery was unable to cure the paralysis. Brannon brought suit against Dr. Wood as a result of his paralysis. Brannon claimed that leaving the cellulose substance in his chest, and its subsequent pressing against his spinal cord, was negligent. Brannon also stated that it was negligent to not warn him of the known risks of the surgery. After refusing to instruct the jury on res ipsa loquitur, the trial court submitted the case to the jury. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Dr. Wood, and Brannon appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rodman, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 833,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.