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Medical Malpractice—Unconscious Patient—Liability For Defective Instruments—Hospitals And Enterprise Liability—Anderson V. Somberg, 67 N.J. 291, 338 A.2d 1 (1973), John Ludlow

Washington Law Review

In November 1967, defendant Dr. Somberg performed spinal surgery, using general anesthetic, on the plaintiff. During the procedure a jaw of the pituitary rongeur he was using broke off and lodged in the plaintiff's spine. The doctor terminated the operation after numerous unsuccessful attempts to recover the fragment. Four months later he retrieved the jaw in a second operation. The plaintiff suffered permanent injuries for which he sought recovery from the following: (1) Dr. Somberg for negligently causing the rongeur to break; (2) the hospital in which the surgery was performed for negligently furnishing a defective instrument; (3) the medical …