Lal v Anderson: A Jury Notice Upheld in a Complex Birth Injury Case
A defence motion to strike a jury notice was dismissed in a complex BC birth injury case involving 31 expert reports and 35 anticipated witnesses.
November 23, 2023
Articles Tagged
EFM
Electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) is the continuous recording of the fetal heart rate and uterine contractions during labour, used to identify signs that the fetus may be in distress. The interpretation of EFM tracings is one of the most litigated issues in obstetric malpractice, because a tracing said to show a deteriorating fetal condition is frequently the foundation of an allegation that the care team should have intervened sooner.
Disputes in EFM cases turn on the classification of the tracing, whether the pattern called for escalation or expedited delivery, and how quickly a reasonable team should have responded. The interpretation of monitoring and the standard of care are matters of expert evidence from obstetrics, nursing, and maternal-fetal medicine, and the evidence is assessed against the tracing as it appeared in real time rather than with the benefit of the known outcome. Causation links the alleged delay to the neonatal injury.
Posts tagged EFM analyze Ontario and other Canadian decisions in which the interpretation of and response to electronic fetal monitoring was in issue.
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