La relevancia de los cursos causales hipotéticos en la imputación normativa del resultado a la conducta imprudente. Su significado práctico en materia de responsabilidad médica por error de diagnóstico

The paper deals with the relevance of hypothetical causal courses for the imputation of harmful events to negligent conducts. The author focuses on the teleological profile of the “duty of care” in order to discuss the adoption of the “increase of risk” -or “decrease of chances”- ex post normative criteria. The discussion clarifies the relationship between the evaluation concerning the “realization of risk” (i.e. the “scope of protection” of the norm) and the consideration of the hypothetical lawful conduct. This allows reaffirming the structural correspondence between negligent “active conducts” and negligent “improper omissions”. Finally, the paper considers the relevance of the defended theoretical structure by focusing on medical malpractice cases for diagnostic errors.