Vet vindicated (Melnychuk v. Ronaghan).

• Author: Mitchell, Teresa

In the August/September 1999 issue of LawNow, Update reported the case of an Alberta veterinarian who was found negligent for puncturing the hand of a farmer with a scalpel he had temporarily placed in his mouth while performing a caesarian section on the farmer's cow. The trial judge based his finding of negligence on a failure to warn the plaintiff farmer of the risk to him created by holding the scalpel in his mouth. But the Alberta Court of Appeal has rejected that reasoning and over-turned the finding of negligence against the vet, saying that the injury was pure accident, not negligence. The three-member panel noted that there is no duty to warn of a risk that is so obvious and apparent...