Eggshell skull

The eggshell skull doctrine in tort law means that the defendant in a civil litigation who is at fault is responsible for all the consequence of his action, even the plaintiff has a preexisting medical condition or other vulnerability, such as if the plaintiff's skull is as fragile as an eggshell. This doctrine is often used in battery litigations. A famous case that invoked the eggshell skull doctrine is Vosburg v. Putney.

Sources

• Law glossary definition
• Journal article excerpt