Negligence and Contributory Negligence
Another factor in proving or disproving injury relates to the harm that the patient themselves may have caused. They may have contributed to their injury through their own negligence, either prolonging the symptoms or recovery time, or making the prognosis more serious. In cases in which there is such a suggestion by the defense the plaintiff will have need to show that they did not cause or contribute to their injuries.
As medical malpractice is a form of negligence, it follows that there are defenses to negligence that can also be used to defend against an allegation of medical malpractice. In terms of injuries, this could mean a number of different things. Examples are that the harm suffered was an unavoidable “known risk” and therefore could not amount to negligence; that the patient failed to disclose something important to the physician treating them; that the patient caused a lot of the harm him or herself; or that there was an intervening event following the alleged malpractice that breaks the ‘causation’ link between the doctor and the injury.
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