Standard of care is the legal benchmark for the conduct expected of physicians, nurses, and other regulated health professionals in Ontario. It is the first of the three elements a plaintiff must prove in a medical malpractice claim, and it is almost always proven or defended through the evidence of qualified medical experts.
Posts tagged Standard of Care analyze how Ontario courts have applied the test in specific cases, how expert evidence is used to define what a reasonable practitioner would have done in the circumstances, and where the standard is contested between specialties. The library covers obstetrical, emergency, surgical, anesthetic, and primary care decisions, along with appellate rulings that shape how trial courts approach the question.
For patients considering a claim, these case comments offer a sense of what Ontario courts have treated as a departure from the standard of care and what they have not.
A negligent stroke discharge that failed at causation. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal of the action, despite an admitted breach of standard of care.
A Manitoba decision in which a physician was found negligent without expert evidence, illustrating the narrow common-sense exception under ter Neuzen v Korn.
I represented the plaintiff in this surgical malpractice case. The trial judge found a breach of the standard of care, but the claim failed at causation.
GLP-1 drugs are now mainstream medicine in Canada. When prescribing falls below the standard of care, the harms can be serious and the legal questions are real.
Most ER visits are for minor concerns. For the small number that are not, missing the diagnosis can be fatal. Five conditions that recur in malpractice cases.
Ectopic pregnancy is a leading cause of first-trimester maternal death. When the diagnosis is delayed, the consequences can be catastrophic.
Sepsis is one of medicine’s most time-sensitive diagnoses. When it is missed, the consequences are catastrophic and often preventable.
The Court of Appeal upholds the use of epidemiological evidence to infer causation across a class of patients harmed by a physician’s IPAC failures.
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.
Most hospital falls are not negligent. Some are. A practical guide to when a fall in hospital becomes a legal claim, and what patients should do next.
A missed diagnosis of compartment syndrome cost a patient her leg. The trial judge found the ER physician breached the standard of care.
Most bad outcomes in medicine are not malpractice. After two decades of these cases in Ontario, here are the signs worth taking seriously.
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