Res Ipsa Loquitur: An insight into the novel Seven ‘I's of Indicative Treatment - A potential defense for the defendant doctor

Abstract

In jurisprudence, it is the plaintiff who shoulders the burden of proof. Res ipsa loquitur applies to all areas of tort law including medical malpractice cases. The burden of proving oneself not liable and adhering to the reasonable standards of care rests with the defendant doctor and the expert witness. The above is logistically the reason because the defendant doctor is more knowledgeable of the intricacies of medical complications than the patient. In this vein, this paper proposes a novel holistic framework called the Seven ‘I's of Indicative Treatment. This framework may serve as a potential defense and safety harbor for the defendant doctor. In its elemental form, the novel Seven ‘I's of Indicative Treatment framework comprises of: (1) referring to ‘Informed Consent’ documents; (2) providing ‘Individualized’ care; (3) being ‘Inclusive’ of the patient's social preferences; (4) ‘Inspecting’ more fiscally reasonable options; (5) considering ‘Inputs’ of the patient's relatives; (6) ‘Intellection’ of probable mishaps of treatment, proactively averting those; and (7) ‘Imbuing’ evidence-based medicine. Foreseeably, leveraging these seven ‘I's may come to the rescue of the defendant doctor when res ipsa loquitur is invoked in medical malpractice and negligence cases.