Causation and Epidemiology
Causation Framework
Concurrent causes act together to produce an indivisible injury. Where each alone would have been sufficient, but-for analysis fails and substantial factor analysis applies. Where neither alone would suffice, both are but-for causes.
It differs from successive causes acting at different times.
Alternative Names:
Concurrent Causes, Multiple Causation
Why it Matters?
In insurance coverage the doctrine carries different weight, since a loss caused by both a covered and an excluded peril raises whether coverage applies at all. Efficient proximate cause analysis addresses that, asking which peril set the chain in motion, and states divide between that approach and anti-concurrent causation clauses that exclude any loss involving an excluded peril. That coverage question is distinct from the tort analysis.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How does concurrent causation affect coverage?
Does but-for analysis work with concurrent causes?
