Proving Causation In Medical Negligence Cases – A Closer Look

To succeed in a medical negligence case, a claimant must prove the following:

All three of the above elements are essential for a successful medical negligence claim.

Causation in medical negligence claims

When it comes to establishing causation, often it is not straightforward. One reason for this is that we are looking at the hypothetical question of what would have happened had there not been a breach of duty. Many medical negligence cases also involve claimants who were ill before the treatment and therefore proving causation can be complex.

The ‘but for’ test

The standard test for proving causation is the ‘but for’ test, e.g. ‘but for the negligent medical treatment, the injury to the claimant would not have occurred‘.

Therefore, the claimant must show their injury was caused by the negligence and that the loss or damage they suffered would not have occurred had the negligence not occurred.

If the injury, loss or damage would have occurred in any event, despite the negligence then the medical negligence claim will fail.

It is for the claimant to prove this ‘on the balance of probabilities’. This means it must be proved that it is more than 50% likely the injury was caused by the alleged negligence.

The material contribution test

The ‘but for’ test can clearly cause problems for claimants in cases where there may be multiple causes of the injury.

In such cases, it is appropriate for a modified test to be applied, the Court should be asked to consider whether the alleged negligence made a contribution to the injury and if the contribution it made to the injury was ‘material’. This is known as the material contribution test.

In order to succeed under this test, it must be shown that:

Summary

There are therefore two ways that causation can be established in a medical negligence case:

It is a commonly held misconception that in order to succeed with a medical negligence compensation claim, it is enough if the Defendant admits that there was a breach of duty of care, but there is much more to a medical negligence claim than this. All three elements must be proven for a claim to succeed – duty, breach, and causation.

It is fair to say that the causation element of a claim in a medical negligence claim is often the more difficult to prove.

Causation in medical negligence claims is complex as there can be instances where injury, loss, or damage can take place even if negligent treatment had not occurred. When making a claim a specialist and experienced legal team are vital to thoroughly understand the issues and determine whether causation can be established.