McPherson v. High Point Memorial Hospital, Inc.

HEDRICK, Judge.

Although plaintiff does not argue the question in her brief, this case squarely raises the issue of whether the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur will apply to carry plaintiffs case to the jury. This evidentiary principle is grounded in the superior logic of ordinary human experience and operates to permit an inference of negligence from the very happening of the incident itself. 2 Stansbury’s N. C. Evidence, Burden of Proof and Presumptions § 227 (Brandis rev. 1973). In Newton v. Texas Co., 180 N.C. 561, 567, 105 S.E. 433, 436 (1920), our Supreme Court, in what has become a…