Still No Loss of Chance in Tennessee
The Western Section Court of Appeals earlier this year declined to adopt a cause of action for loss of chance in Harris v. Baptist Mem. Health Care Corp..
Once again, the issue centers on patients who, with proper medical care, have a 49% or even 50% chance of surviving (or avoiding brain damage or another injury). Under the current law, those patients cannot maintain a lawsuit even if a doctor's negligence deprives the patient of that chance. Instead, the patient must prove "more likely than not" that the patient would have had a better result if the doctor had not been negligent. The result is that a patient who had a 50% likelihood of a full recovery will not be compensated, while while a patient with a 50.1% chance may be compensated.
The Tennessee Supreme Court denied permission to appeal in Harris.