Material Contribution in Medical Negligence Tort Law

Getting to the bottom of what caused an injury in a medical care context is not always an easy task. It can be a difficult task. In essence one is looking in the rear view mirror so to speak while assessing all the facts which led to the outcome.

In McGhee V NCB it was established that negligence did not need to be the exclusive cause of harm, but that it had to be a material or substantial contributing factor in essence.

Under Tort law the principle of material contribution has been applied to complex cases like complicated medical negligence cases, for example. This is where there maybe a number of circumstances led or contributed to the injury, loss or outcome.

A concept in tort law concerning medical negligence cases is the but for test.

This states that a defendant can only be liable if the harm would not have occurred but for the conduct consisting of the negligence. Sometimes though there can be multiple events or occurences which ultimately led to the unwanted outcome.  

In essence, the doctrine or principle lays down that if a defendant’s actions or omissions significantly contribute to cause harm to the plaintiff, they could be held liable for the resulting damages even if several other factors also played a role.

What are the key elements in this “Material Contribution” principle?

1. Significant Contribution: the defendant’s actions must have made a material difference in the outcome, not whether they were the sole cause.

2. Fairness: Its application is based on fairness to both sides.

3. Indivisible harm: This is where an injury is caused by multiple factors, and it is impossible to clearly establish the exact contribution of each factor. In such cases, each contributing factor is considered a cause and held liable.

How is the rule applied in courts?

If a car factory’s negligence and an individual driver’s carelessness both contribute, for example, to a car accident, and it is not possible to establish the exact degree of each contribution, then both parties will usually be found liable for their material contributions.

And in medical negligence cases?

Sometimes the courts have to deal with what are called “indivisible injuries” i.e. where the medical experts cannot really determine the relative impact of negligent and non-negligent causes, the plaintiff can still succeed and recover damages.

The Doctrine of Material Contribution is especially useful in complicated scenarios where there appear to be multiple contributing factors. It ensures that a party is found liable only in a fair and equitable manner. More importantly, it will hold that parties who materially contribute to harm can be held to account even in circumstances where the exact or sole causative factor is difficult to establish.