Sides v. St. Anthony's Medical Center

LAURA DENVIR STITH, Chief Justice.

This case presents the question whether expert testimony may be offered in medical malpractice cases to support a claim brought under the theory of res ipsa loqui-tur. The trial court ruled that under this Court’s opinion in Hasemeier v. Smith, 361 S.W.2d 697 (Mo. banc 1962), an expert •witness is not permitted to testify in a res ipsa loquitur case. This means, it concluded, that since medical testimony is required in a case such as this involving the cause of an infection at the surgical site following a back operation, the action could not be brought on a…