Loss of Chance Doctrine

The Loss of Chance Doctrine is a legal principle used in cases where someone's negligence diminishes another person's opportunity to achieve a desired outcome. For example, if a doctor fails to diagnose a treatable illness, the patient may claim they lost the chance of recovery or a better prognosis. Instead of needing to prove that the outcome would have certainly happened, the patient only needs to show that their chance was significantly reduced due to the doctor’s mistake. Essentially, it recognizes that losing an opportunity can have serious consequences, even if we can’t know the exact outcome.