Contracts Keyed to Dawson
Hawkins v. McGee
ProfessorMelissa A. Hale
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
The Defendant, a doctor (the “Defendant”), removed a considerable amount of scar tissue from the Plaintiff, a patient’s (the “Plaintiff”), right hand and replaced it with skin from the Plaintiff’s chest. The skin removed was the result of an electrical burn endured by the Plaintiff more than nine years before this procedure. Prior to the procedure, the doctor told the Plaintiff and his father that the Plaintiff would be in the hospital three or four days, but no more than four. Additionally, after the hospital stay, the Plaintiff could go back to work in a few days with a good hand. The doctor also said “I will guarantee to make the hand a hundred per cent perfect hand or a hundred per cent good hand.” As to damages, the lower court instructed the jury in the following manner: “[i]f you find the plaintiff entitled to anything, he is entitled to recover for what pain and suffering he has been made to endure and for what injury he has sustained over and above what injury he had before.”
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