The Pennsylvania Superior Court has made clear in a published opinion what it said has always been the classic example of a res ipsa loquitur case—leaving a sponge in a patient speaks for itself and doesn’t require an expert witness to prove negligence or causation in a medical malpractice trial.
In so ruling in Fessenden v. Robert Packer Hospital, the Superior Court reinstated a medical malpractice trial that was thrown out by the trial court on summary judgment for the plaintiffs’ failure to provide an expert witness to establish negligence and causation.
