A surgical sponge is left inside a patient and is found on a later scan. The patient invokes res ipsa loquitur, which allows a court to:

Explanation

Res ipsa loquitur — the thing speaks for itself — lets a court infer negligence where the accident is of a kind that does not ordinarily happen without it, the instrumentality was under the defendant's exclusive control, and the injured party did not contribute. It is an evidentiary inference, so the answer describing liability regardless of fault confuses it with strict liability. Punitive damages still require proof of the conduct that would justify them.