Howie v. Walsh

CALABRIA, Judge.

John T. Walsh, D.D.S., (“defendant”) appeals a judgment entered on a jury verdict finding Shimisha Howie (“plaintiff’) was injured by the negligence of defendant based on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur and awarding $300,000.00 in damages for personal injuries. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

On 12 March 1999, plaintiff’s jaw was fractured while defendant, a licensed general dentist, was attempting to extract her lower left wisdom tooth. Plaintiffs tooth was eighty to ninety percent impacted, meaning only ten to twenty percent of the tooth protruded above the bone of…