Wood v. Wyeth

Citations

• 106 A.D. 21
• 94 N.Y.S. 360

Syllabus

<p>Malpractice— a complaint alleging that an inf ant employed physicians and, surgeons to attend and cure him imports a contract and consent of the parents-^-what proof of negligence is required — what shill is required of the surgeon.</p> <p>An allegation in the complaint in an action, to the effect that an infant employed physicians and surgeons to attend and cure him, necessarily implies that a contract to that effect has been made or has arisen by opefEEibn of law between the parents of the infant and the physicians and surgeons; it also imports the giving ofTuch parental consent as was necessary to authorize the physicians and surgeons to do whatever might be proper, including the performance of an operation, in the treatment~of tlíéláfant, for the purpose of bringing about the desired cure.</p> <p>The plaintiff, in an actidn brought to recover damages on the ground of negligence, is not obliged to prove the negligence beyond.a reasonable doubt, but only by a preponderance of evidence.</p> <p>A physician and surgeon, upon undertaking the treatment of a patient, represents that he possesses that reasonable degree of learning and skill ordinarily belonging to a physician and surgeon in the locality in which he practices, and he must use reasonable care and diligence in the exercise of his skill and in the application of his learning and act according to his best judgment.</p>