Res Ipsa Loquitur (redirected from Accessibility of Evidence)

res ipsa loquitur

[rās′ ip′sə lok′witoo͡r]

Etymology: L, the thing speaks for itself

a legal concept, important in many malpractice suits, describing a situation in which an injury occurred when the defendant was solely and exclusively in control and in which the injury would not have occurred had due care been exercised. Classic examples of res ipsa loquitur are a sponge left in the abdomen after abdominal surgery or the amputation of the wrong extremity.

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Res Ipsa Loquitur

Latin for ‘the thing speaks for itself.’ A legal doctrine under which a plaintiff’s burden to prove a defendant’s negligence is minimal and may not require expert witnesses as the details of the incident are clear and understandable to a jury—e.g., foreign objects, gauze, surgical instruments, left in the patient during surgery

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res ipsa loquitur (rās´ ip´s lō´kwi-toor),

adj a Latin phrase meaning “the thing speaks for itself.” Used in actions for injury by negligence in which the happening itself is accepted as proof.

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res ipsa loquitur

The thing speaks for itself Law & medicine A legal doctrine under which a plaintiff's burden to prove negligence is minimal as the details of the incident are clear and understandable to a jury–eg, foreign objects left behind during surgery, eg towels. See Medical malpractice.