Walski v. Tiesenga case brief

Walski v. Tiesenga case brief summary
381 N.E.2d 279 (1978)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Appellant patient challenged the judgment from the Appellate Court for the First District (Illinois), which affirmed a directed verdict entered in favor of appellee doctors in a medical malpractice action.

CASE FACTS
The patient brought a medical malpractice action against two doctors that alleged negligence in a thyroid gland operation.

DISCUSSION and HOLDING

• The court affirmed the directed verdict in favor of the doctors. 
• The court held that the patient was required generally to establish the standard of care through expert testimony. 
• The patient was also required to prove that the doctor was unskillful or negligent and that his want of skill or care caused the injury. 
• The evidence presented two conflicting opinions in the medical community concerning the proper procedure to be observed under the circumstances. 
• No medical evidence was presented that indicated that the procedure used by doctors was unacceptable in the medical community. 
• The court held that it was insufficient for the patient to establish a prima facie case merely to present testimony of another physician that he would have acted differently from the doctors. 
• Without evidence of a standard of care that the doctors were bound to follow, there was nothing against which a jury could measure conduct or negligence.

CONCLUSION

The court affirmed the directed verdict entered in favor of the doctors. The court held that the patient failed to establish a standard that the doctors were bound to follow and that conduct and negligence could not be measured by the jury.

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