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.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (“CPSO”) regulates the practice of medicine in Ontario. Physicians are required to be members of the CPSO to practice medicine. The role of the CPSO, its authority and powers are set out in the Regulated Health Professions Act (“RHPA”), the Health Professions Procedural Code under the RHPA and the Medicine Act.
A missed diagnosis of compartment syndrome cost a patient her leg. The trial judge found the ER physician breached the standard of care.
A plaintiffs’ motion to pierce litigation privilege over expert communications fails despite real credibility concerns about a defendant doctor’s evidence.
Most bad outcomes in medicine are not malpractice. After two decades of these cases in Ontario, here are the signs worth taking seriously.
The essential evidence required to prove a medical malpractice claim in Ontario. From a 2023 guest lecture at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law.
Reflections on two medical malpractice trials in post-COVID Ontario, one jury and one judge-alone. From Gluckstein’s 2022 Risky Business CLE.
On Inside Medical Malpractice with Chris Rokosh: medication errors as Never Events, the 10 rights of medication administration, and what they mean in litigation.
A settlement involving a 65-year-old man whose ankle fracture went 40 days without orthopedic follow-up, leading to joint infection and below-knee amputation.
Where literature, medicine, and the law intersect at a medical malpractice trial in Ontario. From a 2022 OTLA medical malpractice conference panel.
Paul as guest on Justice in Pieces, the legal education YouTube series with John-Paul Rodrigues. On the realities of plaintiff-side medical malpractice practice.
Why screening medical malpractice cases matters at intake, and what to recommend patients when civil litigation is not economical. From a 2021 CLE panel.
How Ontario judges gatekeep expert opinion evidence, and what plaintiff counsel can do to clear that bar. From a 2021 MLST panel.
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