Skodje v. Hardy

This malpractice case was tried to a jury and dismissed at the close of plaintiffs’ case. The sole question presented on appeal is whether plaintiffs produced substantial evidence of actionable negligence.

Obert Skodje, suffering from abdominal pains, went to Dr. Hardy on July 1, 1953, for diagnosis and treatment. He told Dr. Hardy that he believed he had appendicitis. The doctor spent twenty or twenty-five minutes examining the patient, including palpation of the abdomen. A urine specimen was taken, but Dr. Hardy did not take the patient’s pulse, temperature, blood count, or blood pressure.…