A statement of claim in medical negligence need not contain a single paragraph alleging all elements of a particular claim; where the elements of a claim (breach, causation, and damage) are spread across multiple paragraphs of the pleading, the claim is sufficiently pleaded if the paragraphs read together convey the allegation. A primary judge's failure to give adequate reasons for a finding on a contested factual issue (here, functional significance of a deformity) constitutes error warranting remittal. The Jones v Dunkel principle, while applicable to expert witnesses, does not support an adverse inference on a specific issue (causation) where the uncalled expert may have been unhelpful on a different issue (severity).
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