Abstract:
In Diamond v Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWCA Civ 585, the Court of Appeal mistakenly applied the wrong test to the issue of the causal link between the surgeon's failure to disclose material information and her physical injury. Even had that test been correct, its application to the facts was open to question and arguably unsympathetic. The decision is also of note for adding to a line of previous Court of Appeal decisions, which have held that breach of the duty of disclosure does not create a stand-alone right to damages for loss of autonomy.
