This case had taken place in the supreme court of Illinois in 1978. This case was about a thyroid operation that went wrong, which resulted in the paralyzing of the plaintiff vocal chord. The defendant operated to remove the plaintiff thyroid, and the nerve which runs through the thyroid may have been damaged, which resulted in loss of voice. This case was tried in a trial court and then directed to an intermediate appellate court where the issue was the defendant instead of locating the nerve, made a wide cut so as to avoid the area where the nerve was thought to be. In a result the plaintiff nerve was cut and vocal chords are paralyzed. The holding in the trial court was a direct verdict for the defendant and the appellate court affirmed the trial courts decision. The courts reasoning was based on the plaintiff had the burden of establishing that the defendant doctors were guilty of malpractice, but she failed, however to introduce evidence of the standard of care to which the defendants were bound to adhere. The Plaintiff expert Dr. Berger testified only concerning his own personal preference for isolating the nerve under the facts presented to him in the hypothetical question. He at no time testified that there was a generally accepted medical standard of care or skill that required the identification of the nerve under the circumstances. .
I agree with the courts decision because this case falls under the medical practitioner liability, which to prove medical negligence a plaintiff must prove standard of card and the plaintiff had failed to do so.