What is 'res ipsa loquitur' and in what medical scenarios might it apply?

• A. A defense used when the patient caused the injury.
• B. An inference of negligence from the mere fact that an injury occurred.
• C. An inference of negligence when the injury would not occur absent negligence and the defendant controlled the instrumentality.
• D. A rule to require explicit documentation of breach.

Answer: (C)

Res ipsa loquitur is a rule that allows a fact-finder to infer negligence from an injury that ordinarily would not occur without fault, provided the instrumentality causing the injury was under the defendant’s exclusive control and the plaintiff did not contribute to the harm. In medical practice, it applies when something goes wrong in a way that would not happen without negligence and the healthcare provider controlled the instrumentality, such as leaving a surgical sponge or instrument inside a patient or performing surgery on the wrong site. This doctrine shifts the burden to the defendant to show they were not negligent, rather than requiring the patient to prove specific negligent acts. It is not about the patient causing harm, it does not rest merely on the fact that an injury occurred, and it does not require explicit documentation of a breach.