Thompson v. Thompson

SEARS, Presiding Justice.

We granted certiorari in this case to consider whether the trial court erred in charging the jury that proximate cause is “sometimes called the dominant cause.” The Court of Appeals noted that the use of the phrase “dominant cause” had been disapproved in this State, but it found no reversible error in the use of the phrase in this case. Because we conclude that the use of the dominant cause language was error, and because we conclude that it was not harmless, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

In this medical malpractice action, the issue was whether the…