Inouye

Plaintiff had been in an automobile accident. There had been a tearing of ligaments in his neck, causing a lack of stability between the first and second cervical vertebrae. Unless corrected, the condition made him vulnerable to paralysis. In April 1960 he underwent surgery performed by defendant, a neurosurgeon. Defendant wired together the vertebrae, using two pieces of stainless steel wire of a thickness designated as “No. 18.” The wire, under constant tension, was expected to break ultimately but would permit the ligaments to heal while it held the bones together. Although broken, the wire would remain in the body and was not expected to cause any physical damage. Two years after the operation, X-rays revealed that the wire had broken into relatively small fragments, an event not expected by the defendant. Later X-rays showed that one fragment, approximately an inch long, had migrated downward to the lower spine, lodging between the inner surface of a vertebra and the dura or sheath encasing the spinal cord. The other fragments moved somewhat but remained in the general cervical area. Surgical removal of some of these wire fragments would be necessary. Plaintiff brought this…