Johnson v. Ely. No. 4

This is a suit for damages based upon the alleged negligence of the defendant, Dr. J. B. Ely, in leaving a needle in plaintiff’s abdomen during an operation for appendicitis. A verdict for defendant was directed at the close of all the evidence and the plaintiff appeals insisting there was material evidence to take the case to the jury.

The plaintiff, a young married woman, consulted the defendant, a competent and skilled surgeon of Knoxville, some months prior to June, 1941, for an infection of the Fallopian tubes, diagnosed by defendant as chronic bilateral salpingitis. After being treated…