Patrick v. Sedwick

AREND, Justice.

The principal issue in this case may be stated as follows: Where a patient had a soft, feminine voice before undergoing a subtotal thyroidectomy but immediately thereafter was found to have permanent paralysis of the left vocal chord, is the inference that the physician who performed the • operation may produce partial or even recurrent laryngeal nerve of the patient sufficient to establish a prima facie case of negligence, notwithstanding the fact that injuries of this type do occur in about one to five percent of the operations performed, regardless of how careful the surgeon…