If you’re considering bringing a medical negligence claim after an amputation, it’s important to understand that the law focuses not just on what happened, but why it happened. To succeed, you must prove a specific error led to an avoidable amputation. This process involves a two-part test.
First, you must show a ‘breach of duty’ – that the care you received fell below the standard expected of a reasonably competent medical professional. For instance, failing to spot the clear signs of a spreading infection that another doctor would have diagnosed is a breach of the expected duty of care.
The second part of the test is direct cause – connecting the negligent act directly to the amputation. It must be shown that the avoidable error is the reason the amputation became necessary. If a surgeon made an error that damaged a key blood vessel, and this mistake directly led to tissue death that made amputation the only option, then causation is clear. The error must be the reason the amputation became unavoidable.
Both elements, breach of duty and causation, mut be proven for a medical negligence claim to succeed. Together, they demonstrate not only that mistakes were made, but that those mistakes directly changed the outcome for you.