Smith v. Parrott
Vermont Supreme Court
833 A.2d 843 (2003)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Smith (plaintiff) lost the use of his left foot. He went to see Dr. Parrott (defendant). Parrott diagnosed Smith with a neurological condition called foot-drop. Parrott referred Smith to a neurosurgeon, with whom Smith met 11 days later. The neurosurgeon informed Smith that his condition had deteriorated to the point that the foot condition had become permanent. Smith filed a medical malpractice suit against Parrott, alleging that Parrott negligently failed to advise Smith that he needed to see a neurosurgeon immediately, resulting in the foot condition becoming permanent. At trial, the neurosurgeon testified that Smith’s condition was complete and irreversible two or three weeks before his examination. Parrott moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motion, rejecting Smith’s attempt to recover based on the loss-of-chance doctrine. Smith appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Allen, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 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.
