Selvanayagam v University of the West Indies: PC 14 Feb 1983

(Trinidad and Tobago) Having claimed damages for a personal injury, the plaintiff refused a curative operation. As a diabetic he said he faced additional risks.
Held: A plaintiff who rejects medical advice to undergo treatment must discharge a burden of showing that his refusal was reasonable in the light of the duty on him to mitigate his losses. In this case his refusal had been reasonable. The case was remitted to the local court to re-assess the damages.

Citations:

[1983] 1 WLR 585, [1983] 1 All ER 824, [1983] UKPC 5

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedGeest plc v Monica Lansiquot PC 7-Oct-2002
(St. Lucia) The plaintiff claimed damages for personal injuries. The defendant wished to allege that she had failed to mitigate her damages by accepting medical treatment.
Held: If the plaintiff refused treatment, it was for the defendant to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Damages

Updated: 18 July 2022; Ref: scu.180842