Establishing causation in a medical negligence case can be difficult. For example, if you suffer injury as a result of an operation, then it can be difficult to tell whether your injury was caused as a result of the operation being performed negligently, or as a result of a complication of the operation that would have occurred even if the surgery itself had been performed perfectly. If your doctor does not diagnose you with cancer early enough which means that you need to undergo the pain and suffering of chemotherapy treatment, the doctor may argue that you would have needed that treatment even if he had diagnosed you earlier. It can be hard to show that a discrete act of negligence caused you pain and suffering which you would not have suffered but for the negligence.
Causation can be so difficult to establish that a defendant may accept that he has acted negligently and has breached his duty to you, but may then argue that his breach has not caused you any or all of your loss. Once breach of duty has been established, a court will decide whether it is more likely than not that the breach also caused you loss. The question of causation will generally need to be answered by reference to evidence from medical experts. Medical experts are in the best position to say what would have happened if a negligent medical act had not taken place, and to give an opinion on what, if any, damage that negligent medical act caused. This is not a simple area, and if you have a case raising medical negligence issues, you should consider contacting a local solicitor in our directory to provide you with guidance.