In the law, res ipsa loquitur is a negligence doctrine. It imposes liability in the absence of the usual elements of breach and causation when the circumstances pose a situation in which negligence must have occurred. Under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, an inference of negligence can arise when the plaintiff's injury (1) ordinarily would not have occurred in the absence of negligence, (2) was caused by an agency or instrumentality within the exclusive control of the defendant, and (3) was not due to any voluntary action or contribution of the plaintiff. An example of a res ipsa situation is when the wrong limb is amputated during surgery. In such a case, with the patient under general anesthesia, the removal of the wrong limb would not occur in the absence of negligence, the instrumentality of the harm was within the exclusive control of the defendant physician, and the plaintiff did not contribute to the mistake.
