Hotson v East Berkshire Area Health Authority [1987] 2 All ER 909 is an English tort law case, about the nature of causation.
The issue was whether the claimant had satisfied the burden of proof in establishing that the defendant's actions had probably factually caused his injury.
Consequently, Lord Bridge rejected the trial judge's position on damages, finding that on the balance of probabilities, even correct diagnosis and treatment would not have prevented the disability from occurring.
It followed that the plaintiff had failed on the issue of factual causation, as they were unable to meet the legal standard of proof: This finding relies on the principle outlined by Lord Diplock in Mallett v McMonagle, as expressly applied by Lord Mackay in this case, that '[in] determining what did happen in the past the court decides on the balance of probabilities.
It became a legal certainty that there was no causal relationship between the defendant's negligence and the plaintiff's lost chance of recovery, as this was not established as a probability.