Contributory negligence occurs when

Contributory negligence occurs when

• A. The plaintiff is wholly responsible for injury
• B. The defendant's action was intentional
• C. The injury was caused by a third party
• D. The plaintiff is partly responsible for injury

Answer: (D)

Contributory negligence is when the injured person’s own failure to exercise reasonable care helps cause the harm. In dental practice, this could be a patient not following aftercare instructions, ignoring warning signs, or using medications improperly, so that their own conduct contributes to the injury. Because the patient’s fault is partly responsible, the clinician’s liability is reduced or eliminated depending on the jurisdiction. The other scenarios don’t describe contributory negligence: the plaintiff being wholly responsible suggests sole fault rather than shared fault, the defendant’s action being intentional points to an intentional tort rather than negligence, and a third-party cause describes an intervening cause rather than the plaintiff’s partial fault.

Contributory negligence is when the injured person’s own failure to exercise reasonable care helps cause the harm. In dental practice, this could be a patient not following aftercare instructions, ignoring warning signs, or using medications improperly, so that their own conduct contributes to the injury. Because the patient’s fault is partly responsible, the clinician’s liability is reduced or eliminated depending on the jurisdiction.

The other scenarios don’t describe contributory negligence: the plaintiff being wholly responsible suggests sole fault rather than shared fault, the defendant’s action being intentional points to an intentional tort rather than negligence, and a third-party cause describes an intervening cause rather than the plaintiff’s partial fault.