Shier v. Freedman

The most important issue before us in this case is whether the “locality rule” in medical malpractices in Wisconsin should be abrogated both as to general practitioners and specialists.

For over eighty years Wisconsin has followed the locality rule. Gates v. Fleischer (1886), 67 Wis. 504, 30 N. W. 674. One of the most accurate statements of the rule was pronounced in Burnside v. Evangelical Deaconess Hospital (1970), 46 Wis. 2d 519, 175 N. W. 2d 230. This court stated at pages 522, 523:

“When a physician exercises that degree of care, judgment, and skill which physicians in good standing of the…