In personal injury claims, it is a common maxim that the defendant takes the plaintiff as he finds him. This makes the defendant responsible for all damages resulting from the defendant’s negligence, even if the plaintiff had a pre-existing condition that results in far worse injuries than what the defendant could have expected.
Put plainly, the Courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey hold that the frailty of the injured person is not a defense in a personal injury case.
The eggshell doctrine was named because it easily illustrates the point: If a person causes physical harm to another, the negligent person is responsible for the victim’s injuries, whether the victim is made of granite, or eggshell.
An older man is riding on the bus when another driver runs a red light and crashes into the bus. The ensuing accident causes the man to sustain a broken arm, and it causes him to have a heart attack because he had a heart condition prior to the accident. It is not a defense for the responsible driver to claim that the injured person’s heart attack is beyond whatever injuries would have been expected to a healthy person from the accident.
The eggshell rule states that it is fair for a defendant to compensate an injured person for the harm he caused, regardless of whether the injured person had a prior condition that made him more susceptible.
In this example, the older man’s heart attack was caused by the accident, and he deserves to be compensated by the responsible driver. Conversely, the responsible driver should not benefit from the fact that the older man had a weak heart that made him more susceptible to a heart attack. Had the accident not occurred, the older man would not have had a heart attack that day.
Many people think because they are more prone to a particular injury then a perfectly healthy person, they cannot bring a claim against the responsible person or business that caused the injury. Examples include people prone to broken bones, or people that have blood disorders that cause easy bruising or injury, and older people who are not in perfect health. This is not true. The eggshell doctrine ensures that people sustaining personal injuries due to the negligence of others are fairly compensated, regardless of whether or not they are in perfect health.
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