130 P. 406 | Or. | 1913
delivered the opinion of the court.
“It is well settled that negligence may be charged in general terms—that is, what was done being stated, it is sufficient to say that it was negligently done without stating the particular omission which rendered the act negligent—but it must appear from the facts averred that the negligence caused or contributed to the injury.” Smith v. Buttner, 90 Cal. 95 (27 Pac. 29).
In other words, the disorders mentioned in the complaint are such as may and often do happen to any person in the absence of medical treatment and if the plaintiff would charge these to the defendant she must show by an appropriate averment of facts, not conclusion, that those ills were really attributable to him and would not have happened but for his lack of skill.
“I was feeling just normal, kind of good for nothing. You didn’t suffer any pain? No, if I had suffered any pain there would have been some excitement.”
When by lapse of time it was established that pregnancy did not exist, she consulted other physicians, who diagnosed her case as one of tumor and advised an immediate abdominal operation.. Not satisfied with this, she consulted still another physician, who told her there was no tumor or pregnancy and advised her to eat coarse food, put on a straight front corset, and get rid of some of the fat on her abdomen, and the ultimate event proved the accuracy of this last diagnosis. The evidence thus discloses that her true condition was one of health and that no injury could have resulted because of the diagnosis of her case as one of pregnancy, as that is a normal condition and not one of disease. So far as the diagnosis is concerned, no injury could be attributable to it. The bodily states of which she complains could as well be attributed to the tumor diagnosis as that of pregnancy.
“Where there are two or more possible causes of an injury for one or more of which the defendant is not responsible, the plaintiff, in order to recover, must show by evidence that the injury was wholly or partly the result of that cause which would render the defendant liable. If the evidence in the case leaves it just as probable that the injury was the result of one cause as much as the other, the plaintiff cannot recover.”
Other errors are noted, but we deem it unnecessary to consider them. The motion for nonsuit at the close of
The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the cause remanded, with directions to allow the motion for nonsuit. Reversed with Directions.