Cox v Fellows [2013] NSWCA 206

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Cox v Fellows [2013] NSWCA 206 Hearing dates: 6 May 2013 Decision date: 09 July 2013 Before: Basten JA at [1]; Ward JA at [2]; Gleeson JA at [3] Decision: (1) Appeal be dismissed. (2) Appellant to pay the respondent's costs. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: TORTS - negligence - breach of duty - medical practitioner - laparoscopic cholecystectomy - whether surgeon departed from the usual standard of care

TORTS - negligence - causation - medical practitioner - s 5D Civil Liability Act 2002 - equally likely causes - whether the trial judge erred as to the cause of the stricture

TORTS - negligence - s 5I Civil Liability Act 2002 - whether injury was a result of the materialisation of an inherent risk Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 Cases Cited: Adeels Palace Pty Ltd v Moubarak [2009] HCA 48; 239 CLR 420 Mobbs v Kain [2009] NSWCA 301; 54 MVR 179 Mulligan v Coffs Harbour City Council [2005] HCA 63; 223 CLR 486 Paul v Cooke [2012] NSWSC 840 Rogers v Whitaker [1992] HCA 58; 175 CLR 479 Rosenberg v Percival [2001] HCA 18; 205 CLR 434 Sibraa v Brown [2012] NSWCA 328 Shaw v Thomas [2010] NSWCA 169 Whitehouse v Jordan [1981] 1 All ER 267 Wyong Shire Council v Vairy [2004] NSWCA 247; Aust Torts Reports 81-754 Texts Cited: Gray's Anatomy, 40th ed (2008) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Michael Cox (Appellant) Reyna Fellows (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: D Higgs SC with Ms V Thomas (Appellant) B M J Toomey QC with G R Graham (Respondent) Solicitors: Tresscox Lawyers (Appellant) Michael E Bradstreet (Respondent) File Number(s): CA 2012/157521 Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 9101 Citation: Fellows v Cox Date of Decision: 2012-04-19 00:00:00 Before: McLoughlin DCJ File Number(s): 2010/263575