We reject defendants’ contention that plaintiffs failed to establish that either Dr. Canver or Dr. Guanzon was negligent. The jury found that one or more of the five participants in the surgery performed on Mary Schmidt (plaintiff) was negligent and that the negligence was the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries. The jury excluded two doctors and one nurse from the act of negligence but could not determine whether the negligent act was committed by Dr. Canver or Dr. Guanzon. In a multiple defendant action in which a plaintiff relies on the theory of res ipsa loquitur, a plaintiff is not required to identify the negligent actor (see generally, Corcoran v Banner Super Mkt., 19 NY2d 425, 432-433, mot to amend remittitur granted 21 NY2d 793; Schroeder v City & County Sav. Bank, 293 NY 370, 374, rearg denied 293 NY 764). That rule is particularly appropriate in a medical malpractice case such as this in which the plaintiff has been anesthetized. “Plaintiff was rendered unconscious for the purpose of undergoing surgical treatment by the defendants; it is manifestly unreasonable for them to insist that [s]he identify any one of them as the person who did the alleged negligent act” (Ybarra v Spangard, 25 Cal 2d 486, 492, 154 P2d 687, 690; see, Kerber v Sarles, 151 AD2d 1031). (Appeal from Judgment of Supreme Court, Erie County, Dillon, J. — Negligence.) Present — Pigott, Jr., P. J., Pine, Wisner, Scudder and Lawton, JJ.
