Medical negligence is the legal cause of action that underpins most medical malpractice claims in Ontario. To establish liability in medical negligence, a plaintiff must prove three elements: that the defendant owed a duty of care to the patient, that the defendant’s conduct fell below the standard of care a reasonable practitioner in the same circumstances would have met, and that the breach caused or materially contributed to the plaintiff’s injury. The framework is the same general negligence framework applied to other tort cases, but its application in the medical context is shaped by the requirement of expert evidence at every step.
Medical negligence is distinct from related but separate theories of liability that can arise on the same facts: battery, where a procedure is performed without any consent at all; failure of informed consent in negligence, where consent was given but the disclosure was inadequate; vicarious liability, where one party is responsible for the conduct of another; and direct institutional liability, where the hospital itself is sued for its systems and processes.
Posts tagged Medical Negligence analyze Ontario decisions on the core negligence framework: duty, breach, and causation, in cases against physicians, nurses, hospitals, and other regulated health professionals.
Some of the most common beliefs about medical malpractice in Ontario are simply wrong, and they cut both ways: pushing some people toward hopeless claims and others away from good ones. Here are the misunderstandings I see most often, set against how the law actually works, from what counts as negligence to limitation periods, College complaints, causation, and the cap on damages.
Norman Clarey nearly died after a bowel resection led to a failed anastomosis and a permanent stoma. A Prince Edward Island court nonetheless dismissed his negligence, breach of contract, and informed consent claims, finding Dr. Gillis met the standard of care throughout and that causation was not proven. As an out-of-province decision it is persuasive but not binding in Ontario, though it applies largely Ontario and Supreme Court of Canada authority.
A new report finds one in 10 admitted patients now spend more than 48 hours waiting in the emergency department, and roughly 16,000 died while waiting for care last year. But a broken system is not the same as a winnable malpractice claim. Here is where an ER delay can cross into negligence in Ontario, and where it cannot.
An Alberta court found that an urgent C-section taking 101 minutes fell below the standard of care, that two physicians’ combined 50 minutes of unnecessary delay was not a defensible judgment call, and that the delay caused a child’s cerebral palsy. A look at the timeliness standard, the causation reasoning, and why this Alberta decision is persuasive, not binding, in Ontario.
How surgical negligence claims succeed or fail. A 2026 OTLA Spring Conference paper on never events and recognized complication cases.
A practical guide to filing complaints about medical care in Ontario, from hospital patient relations and the Patient Ombudsman to the regulatory colleges and the Office of the Chief Coroner.
Yes, you can sue for medical malpractice in Ontario. The harder question is whether you should. After two decades of these cases, the candid advice for many prospective clients is to think very carefully before going forward, and in some cases, not to go forward at all.
In Forget v Gibb, 2026 ONSC 626, the Ontario court dismissed a surgical negligence claim and delivered a sharp critique of the plaintiff’s expert.
Hamilton Spectator coverage of the Hanans family’s $2.5 million lawsuit against Hamilton Health Sciences over the 2024 death of a four-year-old following routine pediatric tonsil surgery.
A settlement on behalf of the family of a man admitted with a heart attack who died overnight after his telemetry alarms went unanswered by hospital staff.
How plaintiff PI firms build long-term strategy and growth. From the 2026 LIF webinar Defining a Winning Business Strategy for Your PI Firm.
Ontario midwifery negligence case study: failure to escalate to obstetrical consultation, postpartum hemorrhage, emergency hysterectomy, infertility at 30.
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