VanMeter v. Crews’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is said that if he performed the operation without her consent this was a trespass on her person and that if he undertook to perform the operation with her consent and performed it unskillfully this was a cause of action for a breach of contract, which cannot be united with an action for trespass to the person. We cannot see the force of this. The plaintiff had employed the defendant as her physician and had placed herself in his charge. If he operated on her without her consent this was a breach of his duty to her; if he performed the operation unskillfully this was also a breach of his duty. In other words, all that the defendant did was done by him as a physician under his employment as such. The status of physician and patient existed and all that he did was done under this relationship. If the plaintiff is to recover at all she must recover all her damages in one action, for manifestly, she cannot bring one action alleging that the operation was performed without her consent and another alleging that it was performed unskillfully. If she cannot present her whole case in one action therefore, she will be denied remedy. Her whole case arises from the defendant’s breach of duty as a physician and she may in one action set up as many breaches of duty as exist. The court, therefore, properly refused to require the plaintiff to elect between the two grounds of recovery sued on.” (p. 338.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hershey v. Peake