Medical Jurisprudence Commons^™

Evidence - Exceptions To Hearsay Rule - Physician's Testimony As To Statements Of Symptoms Made By Patient, Benjamin H. Dewey

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, while in the employ of the defendant, was injured when a ditch he was engaged in digging caved in upon him. Defendant alleged that the shock made active theretofore dormant pulmonary tuberculosis. He received treatment from a physician at the time of the injury. Upon plaintiff's suit under the Texas Workmen's Compensation Act, the physician was allowed to testify, over defendant's objection, that about a month and a half after the injury, the plaintiff had come to the physician's office, and reported that his sputum was stained with blood. On appeal, it was held, one judge dissenting, that …

Damages - Personal Injury - Negligent Aggravation By Injured Person, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

As a direct result of the defendant's negligence, "plaintiff fell and sustained injuries including a fracture of the pubic bone. Ten months later, knowing that she could not walk unassisted because the bone had not knit, plaintiff attempted to do so, fell and refractured the bone. Held, that plaintiff's negligence, found as a matter of law, was an "efficient intervening cause" making the defendant's negligence remote as to the aggravation of the injury. S.S. Kresge Co. v. Kenney, (App. D. C. 1936) 86 F. (2d) 651.

Injunctions - Interest Necessary To Enjoin The Practice Of A Profession Without A License, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Three individual plaintiffs, as registered optometrists, and the Michigan Society of Optometrists, on behalf of themselves and duly registered members of their profession, filed a bill to enjoin the defendant corporation from violating a section of the Michigan Optometrical Act, and to specifically enjoin the advertisement of glasses and using in connection with such advertisement the statement, "Scientific eye examination included." Held, suit may be brought by parties engaged in a profession to enjoin unfair trade and practice even though such practices are punishable by criminal penalties. Seifert v. Buhl Optical Co., 276 Mich. 692, 268 N. W. …

Criminal Law And Procedure--Insanity--Irresistible Impulse (Kleptomania)

Michigan Law Review

In a prosecution for larceny, held that under a Minnesota statute evidence that defendant had an irresistible impulse to steal could not establish the defense of insanity. State v. Simenson, (Minn. 1935) 262 N. W. 638.

Physicians And Surgeons-Voluntary Sterilization-Public Policy

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, advised by his physician that further pregnancy would endanger the life of his wife, submitted to an operation of vasectomy. Defendant physician informed him that the operation had been successful and that he could resume sexual relations with his wife without fear. The wife, however, became pregnant and plaintiff alleged that as a consequence he suffered mental agony and was put to great expense. He sued his physician on the theory of deceit in falsely representing to him that he was effectively sterilized. The lower court sustained a demurrer on the ground that the contract was contrary to public …

Physicians And Surgeons-When Physician Obliged To Disclose Information Gained Through Doctor-Patient Relation

Michigan Law Review

In April of this year a Minnesota physician, Dr. Clayton E. May, treated for gunshot wounds a certain undesirable person, John Dillinger, very much in demand by the police. He further neglected to inform the police concerning his ministrations, and as a result, was tried in a federal court on a charge of harboring a fugitive wanted under a federal warrant, found guilty, and sentenced to serve two years in a penitentiary and to pay a fine of $1,000. Said a prominent English medical journal in commenting on the case: " . . . colleagues in every country will applaud …

Torts -Temporary Insanity As A Defense

Michigan Law Review

While operating a bus owned by the corporate defendant the individual defendant suddenly became insane and lost control of the bus which struck a parked ice truck owned by the plaintiff McKay, and upon which the plaintiff Sforza was chopping ice. These actions were brought to recover for property damage and personal injuries thereby incurred. Held, in spite of the temporary insanity the individual defendant was legally responsible for the negligence, which is imputable also to the corporate defendant. Sforza v. Green Bus Lines, Inc., et al; McKay v. Same, (Munic. Ct. City of New York, 1934) 268 …

Torts - Death Act-Pecuniary Injury - Effect Of Incurable Disease

Michigan Law Review

Administratrix sued defendant hospital under the "death act" for having negligently caused the death of her husband. The negligence was admitted. Decedent was afflicted with myelitis, an incurable disease, which affected his spine and rendered him a helpless paralytic. Decedent had no ability to earn or support and would have been an object of constant care and expense. Held, the court should have directed verdict for defendant. Smith v. Presentation Academy of Aberdeen, (S. D. 1933) 248 N. W. 762.

Gifts Causa Mortis - Contemplation Of Suicide

Michigan Law Review

The testator, suffering from melancholia and contemplating suicide, purchased a certificate of stock in the name of his brother and caused it to be deposited in a bank by the latter. Over two months thereafter, the testator stated, in effect, that in the event of his death the certificate should become the brother's property. Held, in affirming the allowance of the final account of the executor, that the transfer of the certificate was a valid gift causa mortis. In re Van Wormer's Estate, 255 Mich. 399, 238 N.W. 210 (1931).

Torts - Malpractice - Master And Servant

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff, on threat of discharge from employ of defendant in case of refusal, submitted to a physical examination by a physician retained by the defendant. In making the examination the physician negligently caused a hernia. Held, the suit was not barred by the one year period of limitation on actions for malpractice because no physician-patient relation had been established, there having been nothing more than an examination, and that for the sole benefit of the defendant. Defendant was liable for the acts of the physician on the basis of respondeat superior. New York Central R.R. v. Wiler …

Insurance-Misrepresentations-Insertion Of False Answers By Medical Examiner

Michigan Law Review

If an applicant for life insurance, in answering the many questions put to him by the company's medical representative, tells the truth, but the examiner, in recording the answers, distorts them without the knowledge of the insured, may the beneficiary or the personal representative of the insured show this distortion by parol, and collect on the policy in spite of the presence of false written answers in the application? The New York court of appeals, in the very recent case, Minsker v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., 254 N. Y. 333, 173 N.E. 4, answers this question in …

Surgeon's Liability For Operation Without The Patient's Consent

Michigan Law Review

Under the maxim volenti non fit injuria, a surgeon may inflict upon the body of his patient what otherwise would amount to a technical battery. The consent of the patient justifies the application of force to his person. Zoterell v. Repp, 187 Mich. 319, 153 N.W. 692; Robinson v. Crotwell, 175 Ala. 194, 57 So. 23; King v. Carney, 85 Okla. 62, 204 Pac. 270; POLLOCK, TORTS, 159; BURDICK, LAW OF TORTS, 110; TORTS, RESTATEMENT No. 1, Sec. 66. A generally accepted limitation to this doctrine is that consent to the commission of an unlawful act …

Irresistible Impulse And Criminal Liability, John Barker Waite

Michigan Law Review

Do you believe in free-will, or mechanistic determinism, or fore-ordination, or fatalism? What do you mean by 'irresistible impulse'? What is the purpose of this prosecution against which you advocate, or deny, irresistible impulse as a defense; and just what do you mean by 'defense'? If, instead of one question, "is irresistible impulse a defense", we should ask these other questions of counsel, judge and medical expert, how often would their answers be in accord? Yet the one question can never be intelligently discussed in the absence of certainty and agreement as to the other premises. There are certain combinations …

Liability In Tort Of Infants And Insane Persons, Francis H. Bohlen

Michigan Law Review

It is universally held that mere infancy or insanity does not preclude liability for the impairment of another's bodily condition or the physical condition of another's property caused by conduct which, if that of an adult or mentally normal person, would be a wrong of aggression or negligence.

But there is a conflict of authority and a wide divergence of opinion among text writers as to the liability of persons who, because of extreme youth or mental deficiency, are incapable of forming a culpable intention, or whose incapacity to realize the probable consequences of their conduct makes it unjust to …

Emotional Disturbance As Legal Damage, Herbert F. Goodrich

Michigan Law Review

Mental pain or anxiety the law cannot value, and does not pretend to redress, when the unlawful act complained of causes that alone." Lord Wensleydale's famous dictum in Lynch v. Knight1 will serve as a starting point for this discussion. His lordship's notion of mental pain is evidently that of a "state of mind" or feeling, hidden in the inner consciousness of the individual; an intangible, evanescent something too elusive for the hardheaded workaday common law to handle. Likewise, in that very interesting problem regarding recovery for damages sustained through fright, it is always assumed, tacitly or expressly, that mere …

Emotional Disturbance As Legal Damage, Herbert F. Goodrich

Articles

MENTAL pain or anxiety the law cannot value, and does not pretend to redress, when the unlawful act complained of causes that alone. Lord Wensleydale's famous dictum in Lynch v. Knight will serve as a starting point for this discussion. His lordship's notion of mental pain is evidently that of a "state of mind" or feeling, hidden in the inner consciousness of the individual; an intangible, evanescent something too elusive for the hardheaded workaday common law to handle. Likewise, in that very interesting problem regarding recovery for damages sustained through fright, it is always assumed, tacitly or expressly, that mere …

Administering Justice The Medical Prepossession, Clarence A. Lightner

Michigan Law Review

This quotation is from a recent document coming from con- servative and intelligent sources, recommending as a cure for economic and commercial unrest, and other evils, the creation of a League of National Guilds.

Witness--Competency Of An Allopathic Expert In The Field Of Homeopathy--Opinion On Very Fact The Jury Must Determine, Victor H. Lane

Articles

Van Sickle v. Doolittle, (Ia., 1918), 169 N. W. 141, was an action for malpractice against a physician of the homeopathic school of medicine. Upon the trial, a physician of the allopathic school was called, and after testifying that he was unskilled in the science of homeopathy, was allowed to testify that the treatment shown to have been given to the patient by defendant, would produce no physiological effect, and that proper treatment required the giving of such medicines as would produce such effect. This was held error upon the ground that the defendant was called to treat the patient …

Note And Comment, Harry B. Hutchins, Donald L. Way, Wendal A. Herbruck

Michigan Law Review

The Ownership of Sunken Logs; Combination Among Physicians to Fix Prices for Professional Services; The Issuance of Receivers' Certificates to pay Interest, Etc.; The Federal Constitution is Not Violated by a State Law Compelling one Accused of Crime to Testify Against Himself; Transfer of Negotiable Instrument Without Endorsement

Characteristics And Constitutionality Of Medical Legislation, Harry B. Hutchins

Articles

Right to practice medicine regulated by statute.--In the absence of a statute upon the subject, any person is at liberty to practice medicine or surgery or both. This is the common law. And yet in the absence of a statute the physician necessarily assumes certain responsibilities that grow out of his relation to those whom he treats. He is bound to bring to the discharge of his duties the learning, skill and diligence usually possessed and exercised by physicians similarly situated. In other words, while in the absence of statutory regulation, the door of the profession is open to all, …

Note And Comment, Harry B. Hutchins, Edson R. Sunderland

Michigan Law Review

What is the Practice of Medicine?; The Extent of the Land to Which a Mechanics' Lien Attaches; May a Murderer Acquire Property From His victim by Descent or Devise?; One Way to Prevent Some of the "Law's Delays";

Note And Comment, Harry B. Hutchins, Frank B. Fox, John E. Winner

Michigan Law Review

The Liability of a Physician for the Acts of His Partner; Municipal Taxation by Appointive Boards or Commissioners; The Right of a Married Woman to Recover for Personal Injuries; What is Corporate Action?;

Physicians And Surgeons, Harry B. Hutchins

Book Chapters

Professor Hutchins's entry regarding the subject of the title. Includes voluminous cross-references and precedents. Begins with a five-page outline.

Note And Comment, Harry B. Hutchins, Ross F. Moore, John E. Winner

Michigan Law Review

The International Law Association and Its Last Meeting; The Extent to Which the Action of Medical Boards may be Controlled By Mandamus; The Effect Upon An Illegal marriage of Cohabitiation After the Removal of the Impediment;

Note And Comment, Harry B. Hutchins, Ralph W. Aigler, T. Harry Slusser, Ivan E. Chapman

Michigan Law Review

The James McMillan Memorial Association; Liability of Hospitals for the Negligence of Their Physicians and Nurses; Intent in Embezzlement by Corporate Official; The Validity of the Initiative and Referendum; Scope of Review, on Appeal from Decision of State Board of Health, Revoking Certificate to Practice Medicine; What are the Rights of a Person Under a Promise to do That Which He was Already under Obligation to Do?;

Note And Comment, Harry B. Hutchins, John R. Rood, Roy L. Black, Ivan E. Chapman

Michigan Law Review

Waiver of the Statutory Protection to the confidential Relation of Physician and Patient; Inter-State Rendition; When a Public Officer Misappropriating Public Funds is Not an Embezzler; When a Discharged Teacher May Resort to the Courts;

Liability Of Hospitals For The Negligence Of Their Physicians And Nurses, Harry B. Hutchins

Articles

Liability of Hospitals for the Negligence of their Physicians and Nurses.-This question was recently examined by the Supreme Court of Utah in the case of Gitzhoffen v. Sisters of Holy Cross Hospital Association, 88 Pac. Rep. 691 (Jan. 26, 1907), and the opinion filed may well serve as a basis for comment. The hospital association was sued for damages for injuries that plaintiff claimed to have sustained through the negligence of defendant's nurses.

What Is The Practice Of Medicine?, Harry B. Hutchins

Articles

In a popular sense, and as ordinarily understood the practice of medicine is the applying of medical or surgical agencies for the purpose of preventing, relieving, or curing disease, or aiding natural functions, or modifying or removing the results of physical injury. Stewart v. Raab, 55 Minn. 20, 56 N. W. Rep. 256. But in some relations, and for some purposes, the expression has a more extended meaning. This is to be found sometimes in statutory provisions, sometimes in the decisions of the courts upon questions involving the construction of the expression and sometimes in both. Medical acts not infrequently …

What Is The Practice Of Medicine?, Harry B. Hutchins

Articles

This question was quite fully considered in 4 Michigan Law Review, pp. 373-379, and many of the cases bearing upon the subject that had been decided at the time of the writing of the note were therein collected and reviewed. The case of State v. Wilhite, decided by the Supreme Court of Iowa, November 14, 1906, bears upon this subject, and is, perhaps, of sufficient importance to merit a brief reference.

Note And Comment, Harry B. Hutchins, Ralph W. Aigler, Fabian B. Dodds, Justice Wilson

Michigan Law Review

What is the Practice of Medicine?; A Home Rule Charter and the Constitution; Recent Decisions on Trade-Marks and Unfair Trade; Liability of Anomalous or Irregular Indorser; Treatise Part of the Supreme Law of the Land;