Briante v. Vancouver Island Health Authority, 2014 BCSC 1511, which I first discussed, here, a few days ago, is a stark reminder that, even in medical negligence, fault alone is not enough. The causation requirement, whatever it is held to mean, must still be satisfied. The action failed, ultimately, because, on the evidence, the fault of neither of the negligent nurse nor negligent physician, could validly be held  to satisfy the balance of probability requirement that the negligence have been necessary for the occurrence of the injury. There was no doubt that there was a least a possibility of  a connection, but that was not enough. Put another way, although the trial judge did not express the situation this way, the most the plaintiffs established was a less than 50% chance that, had the nurse or physician not been negligent, the injury would not have occurred. But that, as a matter of law, was not enough, if the governing test for causation was the but-for test (as it was).

Continue reading →