Res ipsa loquitur a procedural or evidentiary rule which means the thing or the transaction speaks for

itself. It is a maxim for the rule that the fact of the occurrence of an injury, taken with the surrounding
circumstances, may permit an inference or raise a presumption of negligence, or make out a plaintiffs
prima facie case, and present a question of fact for defendant to meet with an explanation, where
ordinarily in a medical malpractice case, the complaining party must present expert testimony to prove
that the attending physician was negligent.
This doctrine finds application in this case. On the day of the operation, Erlinda Ramos already
surrendered her person to the private respondents who had complete and exclusive control over her.
Apart from the gallstone problem, she was neurologically sound and fit. Then, after the procedure, she
was comatose and brain damagedres ipsa loquitur!the thing speaks for itself!