Dr, Milagros L. Cantre v. Sps. John David Z. Go and Nora S. Go, G.R. No.

160889,
April 27, 2007

Doctrine:

In cases involving medical negligence, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur allows the mere
existence of an injury to justify a presumption of negligence provided that the following
requisites concur:

1. The accident is of a kind which ordinarily does not occur in the absence of someone’s
negligence;
2. It is caused by an instrumentality within the exclusive control of the defendant or
defendants; and
3. The possibility of contributing conduct which would make the plaintiff responsible is
eliminated.

Facts:

Dr. Milagros L. Cantre (Dr. Cantre) is a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Dr.
Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital and attended Nora S. Go (Nora). Nora gave birth to her
fourth baby, a baby boy. However, she suffered profuse bleeding bleeding inside her womb
due to some parts of the placenta which were not completely expelled from her womb after
delivery and suffered hypovolemic shock causing her blood pressure to drop from 40 to 0.
Dr. Cantre performed multiple medical procedures to restore blood pressure and while
massaging her uterus, she ordered a droplight to warm Nora and her baby. She would later
recover.

While in the recovery room, John David Z. Go (John) noticed a fresh gaping wound close to
Nora’s armpit and was informed that it was a burn. Dr. Cantre said the blood pressure cuff
caused the injury.

John brought Nora to the National Bureau of Investigation for a physical examination. The
medico-legal officer and stated that Nora’s injury appeared to be a burn and that a droplight
when placed near the skin for about 10 minutes could cause such burn while dismissing that it
was caused by the blood pressure cuff.

Despite plastic surgery, the pain in her left arm remains. When sleeping, she has to cradle her
wounded arm. Her movements now are also restricted. Her children cannot play with the left
side of her body as they might accidentally bump the injured arm, which aches at the slightest
touch.

Issue:

Whether Dr. Cantre is liable for the injuries suffered by Nora.

Held:
Yes. In cases involving medical negligence, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur allows the mere
existence of an injury to justify a presumption of negligence provided that the following
requisites concur:

1. The accident is of a kind which ordinarily does not occur in the absence of someone’s
negligence;
2. It is caused by an instrumentality within the exclusive control of the defendant or
defendants; and
3. The possibility of contributing conduct which would make the plaintiff responsible is
eliminated.

On the first requirement, as the injury is on Nora’s arm which is far away from the organs
involved in the process of giving birth, the injury could not have happened unless negligence
existed.

On the second requirement, whether the injury is caused by the droplight or blood pressure
cuff does not matter as both were within the exclusive control of Dr. Cantre under the
"captain of the ship" doctrine which holds the surgeon in charge of an operation liable for the
negligence of his assistants during the time when those assistants are under the surgeon’s
control.

On the third requirement, Nora could not have contributed on her injury as she was
unconscious at the time.

Based on the foregoing, the presumption that petitioner was negligent in the exercise of her
profession stands unrebutted.