Ratio Decidendi
In exceptional circumstances, grossly negligent medical treatment can break the chain of causation where the original wound has substantially healed and the treatment is 'palpably wrong'.
Facts
Jordan stabbed a man. The wound was healing, but doctors administered a drug to which the victim was known to be allergic and gave excessive intravenous fluids. The victim died.
Judgment Summary
The murder conviction was quashed. The medical treatment was 'palpably wrong' — sufficient to break the chain of causation.
Key Quotes
"Death resulted from the introduction of terramycin after the deceased had shown he was intolerant of it. The treatment was palpably wrong."
— Hallett J
Subsequent Treatment
Narrowly confined
Described as a 'very exceptional case' in R v Smith [1959] and R v Cheshire [1991].