In medical malpractice, the element that connects the breach of standard of care to the injury is called:

• A. Duty of care
• B. Standard of care
• C. Causation
• D. Informed consent

Answer: (C)

Causation is the link between the breach of the standard of care and the injury. In a malpractice claim, you must show that the health care provider’s failure to meet the appropriate standard actually caused the patient’s harm. This involves proving causation in fact (the injury wouldn’t have occurred without the breach) and proximate cause (the injury was a foreseeable result of that breach). If there’s a breach but no causal connection to the injury, liability doesn’t attach. The other terms describe different pieces of the claim: duty of care is the obligation to provide care, standard of care is the expected level of care, and informed consent concerns the patient’s agreement to treatment.