Entirely as expected, the High Court on Friday granted special leave for the appeal in the recent NSW Court of Appeal decision in Gett -v- Tabett.

The High Court will now, sometime in 2010, decide whether damages should be recoverable for a loss of a chance of a better outcome from medical treatment, where such lost chance (lost due to negligent medical care) is < 50%.  

See my earlier post for more details of the NSW Court of Appeal’s decision on this point, which created conflict between NSW and Victorian Law and uncertainty for the rest of the country.

With this issue and the complex causation issues that will be considered by the Court in October in Amaca/Ellis, the High Court will have an opportunity to set the legal position with wide ramifications for those involved in the medical negligence area of litigation across Australia.