Aetna Casualty & Surety Company v. Pilcher

Paul Ward, Justice.

Very briefly stated, this litigation pertains to the question of liability for a germ infection incident to an operation on the leg of Gary Pilcher, a fourteen-year-old boy.

On September 20, 1962 Gary was admitted to St. Vincent Infirmary, and on the following day the operation was performed, necessitating an incision on his leg. He was discharged eight days later and returned to his home. About two months later Gary was admitted to a hospital in Malvern because of fever and a “reddened throat” where his condition was diagnosed as a Streptococcal Respiratory Infection, and…