Defendant Win

Posts tagged Defendant Win analyze Ontario medical malpractice cases in which the defendant physician, hospital, or other health professional was successful at trial, on a dispositive motion, or on appeal. Defendant wins are the more common outcome in medical malpractice litigation, reflecting the high evidentiary burden on plaintiffs and the structural defences available to well-represented health professionals.

Defendant wins fall into several patterns: cases where the court accepted the defendant’s expert evidence on standard of care; cases where the plaintiff proved breach but failed to prove causation; cases dismissed on limitation grounds; cases dismissed at summary judgment following Hryniak v Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7, [2014] 1 SCR 87; cases where the plaintiff’s expert evidence was ruled inadmissible or given little weight; and cases dismissed mid-trial on a non-suit motion.

Studying defendant wins is as informative as studying plaintiff wins, often more so. Each decision identifies the evidentiary gap or legal defect that ended the case, which in turn shows what a successful plaintiff would have needed to prove instead. Posts under this tag analyze the specific reason the case failed and the practical implications for similar future claims.