Brachial Plexus Injury

Navy title card reading "JB v Bailey" with the subtitle "Admitted negligence, but causation was not proved", labelled Case Comment, from paulcahill.ca.

JB v Bailey: Admitted Negligence Is Not Proof of Causation in a Birth Injury Case

Dr. Bailey admitted that her management of labour was negligent and that it caused a hypoxic brain injury at birth. The plaintiffs still lost, because they could not prove that the brain injury caused the child’s lasting impairments. JB v Bailey is an Alberta decision, persuasive only in Ontario, but it is a clear reminder that admitted negligence and admitted injury are not the same as proven causation.

March 31, 2026

Case comment on Dallner v Gladwell, 2024 ONSC 6557 (Ontario Superior Court of Justice), plaintiff trial win on shoulder arthroplasty brachial plexus injury. On the Armstrong bidirectional SOC-causation framework and inferring negligence from a rare surgical complication. By Paul Cahill, LSO Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation.

Dallner v Gladwell: Brachial Plexus Injury and Inferring Negligence from a Rare Complication

When a surgical complication is extreme and rare, the trier of fact can infer negligence from the outcome itself. Trial win on shoulder replacement nerve injury.

December 9, 2024

Case comment on Rathan et al v Scheufler et al, 2023 ONSC 3232, on excessive traction during shoulder dystocia and a permanent brachial plexus injury. By Paul Cahill, LSO Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation.

Rathan v Scheufler: A Shoulder Dystocia and a Preventable Brachial Plexus Injury

A trial judge found an obstetrician applied excessive traction during a shoulder dystocia, causing a permanent brachial plexus injury. Liability was established.

June 2, 2023

JB v Bailey: Admitted Negligence Is Not Proof of Causation in a Birth Injury Case

Dallner v Gladwell: Brachial Plexus Injury and Inferring Negligence from a Rare Complication

Rathan v Scheufler: A Shoulder Dystocia and a Preventable Brachial Plexus Injury

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