On January 15, 2024, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia granted a motion for summary judgement brought by the Defendant, Dr. Robert Grimshaw (“Dr. Grimshaw”), a qualified medical practitioner trained in the specialties of gynecology and obstetrics, who performed a surgery on the Plaintiff, Daphne Thorburn (“Ms. Thorburn”), to remove a mass on her right ovary.
On January 18, 2024, the Court of Appeal of Manitoba ordered a new trial in a medical malpractice claim involving a general surgeon with orthopedic training in a rural setting who allegedly provided substandard care with respect to a complex calcaneus (heel bone) fracture.
On December 1, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by a young woman who suffered a stroke after taking birth control medication provided by her family physician who allegedly failed to advise her of the increased risk of stroke associated with that particular brand of birth control pill (Yaz).
On November 29, 2023, the Court of King’s Bench of New Brunswick dismissed a certification motion for a class action against the Moncton hospital and registered nurse, Nicole Ruest relating to alleged unauthorized administration of oxytocin causing emergency C-sections and emergency deliveries.
On January 8, 2024, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a medical malpractice claim arising from an alleged missed diagnosis of stroke in the emergency room that led to the death of a 27 year-old woman.
The successful prosecution of a medical malpractice lawsuit is challenging even for lawyers experienced in this complex area of the law. Given the high cost of litigation, it is typically only through contingency fee agreements that patients can afford representation. However, most experienced medical malpractice lawyers will be cautious in offering such agreements to only those plaintiffs who have the largest claims with the greatest prospects of success.
On December 8, 2023, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia dismissed the appeal of a brain injured baby girl (“Kyrcee”) against her family physicians who were found to be negligent in her care in the days after her birth.
On December 1, 2023, a trial judge of the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba determined that a general surgeon’s admitted negligence in performing a colonoscopy that resulted in a 9 month delay in diagnosing colorectal cancer did not cause the patient’s untimely death.
On November 30, 2023, the Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal of a medical malpractice trial loss by the family of a 51 year-old man who died two weeks after suffering a fall in his home of exsanguination (bleeding) from a subcapsular hematoma in his spleen.
On October 5, 2023, a motions master of the Supreme Court of British Columbia allowed a lengthy and complex medical malpractice claim to proceed to trial by jury. The Defendants’ motion on the eve of trial to strike the jury was dismissed.
On September 29, 2023, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta found general surgeon, Dr. Adrian Indar, negligent for failing to obtain informed consent from a 26 year-old man for an open inguinal hernia repair. Although the Court did not find the doctor negligent with respect to the procedure itself, the trial judge did conclude that Dr. Indar fell below the standard of care by not offering laparoscopic surgery as an alternative. If this had been offered, the patient would likely have chosen this procedure which would have prevented the vascular insult that caused an atrophied testicle and chronic pain.
On August 28, 2023, a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a motion by Defendant physicians seeking an order requiring the Plaintiff to undergo a neuropsychological assessment late in the litigation.
