Medical Negligence, Loss of Chance Doctrine, Not in Cal.

From damage aspect, Loss of Chance Doctrine means, the remedy of damages is normally intended to compensate for the plaintiff's loss of expectation.

In medical malpractice actions, the plaintiff bears the burden of showing that (a) the defendant deviated from the accepted standard of care; and (b) that deviation proximately caused the injury. To establish proximate cause, a plaintiff must prove that the loss was a foreseeable consequence of the negligence and that the negligence was a but-for cause of the loss or harm. However, a defendant's breach does not need to be the exclusive cause of the injury, the defendant's act or failure to act must be a substantial factor in bringing about the harm.

Not every state has adopted the lost chance doctrine. Twenty-two states have adopted the doctrine, i.e., Vermont, and sixteen have not. California has not adopted the Lost Chance Doctrine and instead continues to only allow recovery only where to a reasonable medical probability when the plaintiff's negligence was a substantial factor in causing plaintiffs' injury.