In a professional negligence claim, which element requires proving that the breach caused harm to the patient?

• A. Duty
• B. Breach
• C. Causation
• D. Damages

Answer: (C)

Causation focuses on linking the provider’s breach of the standard of care to the patient’s injury. In a professional negligence claim, you must show that the care provider owed a duty, failed to meet that duty (breach), and that this breach directly caused harm. Causation establishes that but-for the breach, the harm would not have occurred, and it often involves considering whether the harm was a foreseeable consequence of the breach (proximate cause). Damages would cover the actual injury or loss, but proving damages alone doesn’t prove that the breach caused the harm. Duty sets up responsibility, and breach describes the failure; neither alone shows that the injury happened because of that failure.