Tort Law - Causation Flashcards
Stapleton gives what two strands of causation?
Historical connection between D’s negligence and injury, and damage falling within scope of liability for consequences
What is the usual test for a historical connection between D’s negligence and injury?
But for
What is the usual test to find damage falling within scope of liability for consequences?
Remoteness and NA
What are the tests of remoteness and NA, essentially?
A normative inquiry reflecting a value judgment as to proper liability limits
Who gave two strands of causation?
Stapleton
What does causation require C to prove?
D’s fault caused damage , on the balance of probabilities
Name the four possible tests of causation
But for, material contribution to injury, loss of chance and material contribution to risk
what does the but for test require?
D’s wrong to have made a difference
Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington Hospital general
Tea doctor arsenic
Tea doctor arsenic
Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington Hospital
Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington Hospital judgment
No claim - administrative processes meant antidote would have been given too late even if doctor hadn’t been negligent
What was the key feature in Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington Hospital?
The timetable
Why was Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington Hospital unusual?
Could be relatively sure of outcome in parallel hypothetical sequences of events, which is uncommon in medical negligence
Hotson v East Berks AHA general
Hip, avascular necrosis, sent home
Hotson v East Berks AHA judgment
If unsure of outcome, balance of probabilities test
Why was the injury considered certain in Hotson v East Berks AHA?
75% chance he was already too badly injured
What did the judges refuse to rule out in Hotson v East Berks AHA?
Possibility of proving loss of chance in medical negligence
In what case did the judges refuse to rule out the Possibility of proving loss of chance in medical negligence?
Hotson v East Berks AHA
Bolitho v City and Hackney HA general
Pager message, intubation
Bolitho v City and Hackney HA judgment
Look to what D says they would have done, see if it would have been negligent, and if yes then causation will be proved on what she SHOULD have done
In what case did the courts examine what would happen if D says they would have done X if they hadn’t been negligent, but C says they should have done Y?
Bolitho v City and Hackney HA
Pager message, intubation
Bolitho v City and Hackney HA
Wright v Cambridge Medical Group confirmed what case?
Bolitho
What case confirmed Bolitho?
Wright v Cambridge Medical Group
Wright v Cambridge Medical Group judgment
Even if subsequent negligence is by 3rd, Bolitho applies
Why did Bolitho still apply in Wright v Cambridge Medical Group?
Irrebutable presumption that subsequent treatment would be without negligence
In what case was Bolitho held to apply even if subsequent negligence is by 3rd?
Wright v Cambridge Medical Group
Wright v Cambridge Medical Group general
Delay in referral, negligent correct diagnosis
Delay in referral, negligent correct diagnosis
Wright v Cambridge Medical Group
When is the material contribution to injury test used
when several potential causes combine together to cause the damage
What do the cases have to be a form of causally for material contribution to injury?
Cumulative causation
What is cumulative causation?
Takes into account both innocent and negligent exposures
What is alternative causation?
Assumes EITHER D’s negligence OR other factor is the cause
Bonnington Castings v Wardlaw general
Swing grinders, pneumatic hammers
What was the harm in Bonnington Castings v Wardlaw?
Pneumoconiosis
Bonnington Castings v Wardlaw judgment
Negligence in failing to maintain ventilation for swing, but not operation of hammers
What was negligence taken to have caused of the total exposure in Bonnington Castings v Wardlaw?
20%
What did Lord Reed say of the material contribution to injury test, in terms of the amount of contribution
Any kind is sufficient, as long as above a minimal point
What latin saying encompasses Lord Reid’s view of contribution in Bonnington Castings v Wardlaw?
De minimis non curat lex
De minimis non curat lex
The law does not concern itself with small matters
Holtby v Brigham & Cowan general
Asbestosis, different employers
Holtby v Brigham & Cowan judgment
Look at quantifiable part of exposure and create employment history to divide responsibility on a ‘time exposure’ basis
How did the court in Holtby v Brigham & Cowan explain full damages in Bennington?
Question of apportionment not raised
Asbestosis, different employers
Holtby v Brigham & Cowan
Why is it crucial that the injury for material contribution to injury is cumulative?
Every particle/exposure makes the illness a bit worse
What does the decision on apportionment in Holtby do to C?
Throws onus on C to sue and recover against all who contributed in order to get full compensation
What is the only way C under material contribution to injury can recover full compensation?
Find all who contributed and sue them
What is the ‘quantifiable part’ of exposure?
Length and intensity of exposure
Bailey v MoD general
Inappropriate post-op care, further surgery, vomit
Inappropriate post-op care, further surgery, vomit
Bailey v MoD
Bailey v MoD judgment
Negligence led to C’s weakness, which was cumulative cause of brain damage
What case shows the operation of material contribution to injury test outside of employment-related injuries?
Bailey v MoD
Bailey on material contribution to injury test
Should be confined to situations satisfying ‘but for’ test in normal way for coherence
Stapleton on material contribution to injury test
Any positive mechanism by which the injury occurred should be causal, but THEN consider if C can claim
Who said any positive mechanism by which the injury occurred should be causal?
Stapleton
Who thought the material contribution to injury test should be confined to situations satisfying ‘but for’ test in normal way for coherence?
Bailey
Miller on the material contribution to injury test
If D’s negligence is one of two or more alternative causes, need to satisfy ‘but for’, but if cumulative then evidential hurdle is lower
Who criticised the material contribution to injury test for lowering the evidential hurdle based on the type of injury?
Miller
Rahman v Arearose Ltd general
Workplace beating, blind in right eye from hospital
Rahman v Arearose ltd judgment
Confirmed proportionate damages are awarded even where causative factors operate concurrently
What case Confirmed proportionate damages are awarded even where causative factors operate concurrently
Rahman v Arearose ltd
Weir on Rahman v Arearose ltd
No scientific basis for attribution of causality in this way - C is not half mad because of X and half made because of Y
Who said that C is ‘as mad as he is because of what both of them did’, criticising attribution of causality in Rahman v Arearose ltd?
Weir
Workplace beating, blind in right eye from hospital
Rahman v Arearose ltd
What two academics debate over the proper application of the material contribution test?
Miller and Bailey
Bailey on the proper application of the material contribution test
It is a particular application of ‘but for’ test for cumulatively caused injuries
Why did Miller reject Bailey’s view that material contribution to injury is just a particular application of ‘but for’ test?
Bonnington wasn’t dependent on knowledge of magnitude or even existence of threshold in relationship linking dust concentration to respiratory function
When is the material contribution to risk test used?
When C can’t prove D’s negligence either made a difference OR that D materially contributed - just increased likelihood C would suffer
McGhee v National Coal Board general
Brick kilns, cycle not shower, dermatitis
Brick kilns, cycle not shower, dermatitis
McGhee v National Coal Board
McGhee v National Coal Board judgment
Material increase in risk the same as material contribution to injury
Why could C in McGhee v National Coal Board not use but for or material contribution to injury?
Divergent medical opinion and can’t prove difference due to lack of medical info
Wilsher v Essex AHA general
Newborn baby, RLF
Newborn baby, RLF
Wilsher v Essex AHA
Wilsher v Essex AHA judgment
Rejected material contribution to risk is the same as injury - required single agent before departing from but for or material contribution to injury test
what distinguished McGhee from Wilsher?
Only one agent involved in McGhee, as opposed to 5 independent possible causes in Wilsher
How many independent possible causes were there in Wilsher?
5
Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services general
Mesothelioma, many employers, delayed symptoms
Mesothelioma, many employers, delayed symptoms
Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services
Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services judgment
Proving increase in risk is enough for causation
In what case did the HoL cast doubt on McGhee saying material increase in risk is the same as injury?
Wilsher v Essex AHA
What case reiterated the view of McGhee in Wilsher?
Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services
What did the HoL in Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services use McGhee as?
The ‘fons et origo’ of the principle of material contribution to risk
What were the HoL careful to say in Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services?
Reasoning only applied to facts of Fairchild
Per Lord Bingham, what is the situation needed for material contribution to risk test to apply?
Exposure in workplace, range of negligent exposures and no other significant background cause that might explain the illness (single agent)
Who doubted the single agent point in Fairchild?
Hoffmann
Who gave the three things needed to use material contribution to risk test, and in what case?
Lord Bingham in Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services
In what case did Hoffmann show a reluctant withdrawal from his scepticism towards the single agent point in Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services?
Baker v Corus
What did Hoffmann say of the test formulated in Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services extra-judicially?
He and the other Law Lords ‘failed [the] test quite badly’ of creating coherent and principled exceptions
What judge stated extra-judicially that He and the other Law Lords ‘failed [the] test quite badly’ of creating coherent and principled exceptions in Fairchild?
Lord Hoffmann
Barker v Corus general
Asbestos from employer and self-employed
Asbestos from employer and self-employed
Barker v Corus
Barker v Corus judgment
Not necessary for all exposures to be tortious, and C’s personal carelessness doesn’t prevent Fairchild but may be reflected in CN damages
What case showed not necessary for all exposures in material contribution to risk to be tortious?
Barker v Corus
What did Lord Hoffmann require there be to limit the material contribution to risk test in Barker?
Single agent
What is recovery under material contribution to risk?
Severable
What case gave that recovery under material contribution to risk is severable?
Barker v Corus
What were the court split on in Barker v Corus?
Apportionment of damages
What did the majority say on recovery in Barker?
Only proportional recovery to risk increased
What did the minority say on recovery in Barker?
Had to be liable for everything, with onus on D to join others responsible under classic causation rules
What did Lord Rodger say to reject proportionate damages in Barker?
In effect allows recovery fro loss of chance
Compensation Act 2006 s.3
Adopted Rodger’s approach in Barker for mesothelioma cases caused by asbestos
What Act adopted Rodger’s approach in Barker?
Compensation Act 2006 s.3
Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK) general
Asbestos fibres from negligence and environment
Asbestos fibres from negligence and environment
Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK)
Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK) judgment
Rejected s.3 CA 2006 created special rule for mesothelioma - common law rules on causation are the same
What case Rejected s.3 CA 2006 created special rule for mesothelioma - common law rules on causation are the same
Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK)
Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK) on rock of uncertainty
It explains why there is a departure from normal causation rules in material contribution to risk - once rock is removed, rule would disappear
In what case was it made clear that s.3 CA06 only applies if material risk is held to establish causal link - exposure does not automatically satisfy causation?
Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK)
What case do L&O contrast Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK) with?
Hotson v East Berks
Why do L&O contrast Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK) with Hotson?
To show distinction between scientific and personal uncertainty, where only the former allows material contribution to risk test
What is scientific uncertainty?
Can’t say what amount of harm is needed to cause the injury
What is personal uncertainty?
Can’t say if C has suffered known amount of harm to cause the given injury
Who first began to express concern about Fairchild, and in what case?
Lord Brown in Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK)
What was Lord Brown sceptical of in Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK) ?
‘Rock of uncertainty’ to demarcate cases where Fairchild applies from those where it doesn’t
Durham v BAI (Run Off) general
Insurance policy
Durham v BAI (Run Off) judgment
Crucial C actually suffers mesothelioma, not JUST increase in risk
what case made it clear that C actually needs to suffer mesothelioma to use material contribution to risk test?
Durham v BAI (Run Off)
Who echoed Brown in Sienkiewicz in Durham v BAI (Run Off)?
Neuberger