Gray v. McLaughlin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Furthermore, it is not denied that appellee did receive an electric shock strong enough to set fire to his clothing and to burn him in several places, and that he received this shock while he was on the operating table of appellant, and that the shock was caused in some manner by appellant’s X-ray machine. This being true, it did not devolve upon appellee to show the exact cause of the injury. In the case of Kelly v. Yount [Kelly V. Yount, 338 Pa. 190 , 12 A.2d 579 ], supra, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in discussing the rule as to the burden of proof in a case of this kind, said: ‘When the thing which causes the injury is shown to be under the management of defendants and the accident is such as in the ordinary course of things does not happen if those who have the management use proper care, it affords reasonable evidence, in the absence of explanation by defendants, that the accident arose from a want of care * * *.’ “We conclude that there was substantial evidence to support the finding of the jury that appellee’s injury was caused by the negligent operation of the X-ray machine.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Redding v. United States

2. ““A physician is responsible for an injury done to a patient through the want of proper skill and care in his assistant, and through the want of proper skill and care in his apprentice, agent, or employee. The fact that a physician’s assistant is a member of the same or a similar profession does not make the rule of respondeat superior inapplicable, and a physician is liable not only for negligence of laymen employed by him, but also for the negligence of nurses or other physicians in his employ. “Corporations, or persons other than physicians, who treat patients for hire with the expectation of profit are liable for negligence or malpractice on the part of the physicians or nurses employed by them.” (70 C. J. S., Physicians and Surgeons, § 54e, pp. 978, 979, and see cases cited therein.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Natanson v. Kline

3. “But in the Runyan case the court stressed the fact that Doctors Runyan, Kirby and Sheppard were not x-ray specialists and had no training in Roentgenology.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Medi-Stat, Inc. v. Kusturin