California First-Year Law Students' Exam (Baby Bar) — MCTortsMedium
A small medical clinic, facing financial difficulties, decided to cut costs by using a cheaper, unsterilized brand of surgical gloves for minor procedures, despite knowing that industry standards required sterile gloves. A patient developed a severe infection after a minor surgery performed at the clinic using these gloves. The patient sued the clinic for negligence. Which element of negligence is most clearly established by the clinic's decision to use unsterilized gloves?
- ACausation, because the infection was a direct result of the gloves.
- BDuty, because the clinic owed a duty of care to its patients.
- CBreach, because the clinic deviated from the accepted standard of care.
- DDamages, because the patient suffered a severe infection.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Breach, because the clinic deviated from the accepted standard of care.
Breach of duty occurs when the defendant's conduct falls below the standard of care required. Here, the clinic's decision to use unsterilized gloves, despite knowing industry standards required sterile ones, clearly demonstrates a deviation from the accepted standard of care, thus establishing breach.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Causation would need further proof that the unsterilized gloves (and not other factors) actually caused the infection. While likely, the *decision itself* directly establishes breach, not causation.
- B. While duty exists, the question specifically asks what is 'most clearly established' by the *decision to use unsterilized gloves*, which points to a specific action violating that duty.
- D. Damages (the infection) are present, but they are a *result* of the breach, not the breach itself. The decision to use the gloves is the breach.
Breach of Duty (Negligence)
An element of negligence where the defendant's conduct falls below the standard of care owed to the plaintiff, typically measured by the 'reasonable person' standard or a professional standard.
- Defendant's conduct falls below standard.
- Standard often 'reasonable person' or professional standard.
- Failure to act as a reasonably prudent person.
Memory trick: DBCD: Duty, Breach, Causation, Damages – don't forget the 'B' for breaking the rules!