Merck & Company, Inc. v. Floyd E. Kidd

STEWART, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment entered upon a jury verdict for personal injuries in a diversity of citizenship case. The underlying facts are no longer in dispute.

The appellee was injured when his leg came in contact with a power saw. His injuries were severe, consisting of a large cut in his right thigh extending down to the bone. He was taken in a state of shock to a hospital in Knoxville, where his wife signed on his behalf a consent to any medical or surgical procedure the surgeon or physician in charge of his case might deem necessary. Because of the appellee’s…