Perkins v. Hausladen

LEIBSON, Justice.

Nancy Lee Perkins sued Dr. Siegfried Hausladen for negligence in performing surgery to remove diseased tissue from her inner ear. Specifically, the diseased condition was called a “cholestatoma.” To reach the site of the cholestatoma, it was necessary to drill through the “cortex of the mastoid bone.” The doctor admitted on deposition that in doing so one of the prime objectives of the surgeon is to make sure he does not tear the sigmoid sinus, a vein that drains the brain area into the internal jugular vein. Yet that is what occurred in this case.

When the bleeding could not…