Medical Negligence: To meet the requirements of medical negligence, the injured party must prove that the health professional had a duty to provide care and that the duty was breached or broken. Because an injury may result from various causes, the injured party must also prove that the breach of duty caused the injury. Damages are assigned after the first three elements have been met

• A. Duty to Provide Care, Breach, Causation, and Damages
• B. Duty to Provide Care; Breach; Causation; Damages Follow
• C. Duty to Provide Care Only
• D. Causation Only

Answer: (B)

Medical negligence hinges on a four-part chain: the health professional owed a duty to provide care; that duty was breached; the breach caused the injury; and damages resulted from the injury. Damages are addressed only after the first three elements are proven, because compensation follows from a proven breach that caused harm. The option that presents the sequence as Duty to Provide Care; Breach; Causation; Damages Follow correctly reflects that order, signaling that damages come after establishing the initial elements. The other choices either omit elements (only duty) or ignore the required sequence (damages without proven causation, or listing all four without indicating the follow-on timing).