Standard of Review

Navy title card reading "Brown v Meaney: The limits of clinical judgment, affirmed on appeal" from paulcahill.ca, a Paul Cahill case comment.

Brown v Meaney: Clinical Judgment, Informed Consent, and Commonsense Causation on Appeal

The Court of Appeal dismisses the appeal in Brown v Meaney, upholding findings that two pediatric neurologists breached the standard of care and the duty to obtain informed consent when they abandoned a pyridoxine trial in an infant with a rare epilepsy. The decision affirms that a defensible first impression does not excuse the failure to revisit it, and that causation need not be proven with scientific precision.

June 19, 2026

Notable case from Paul Cahill's practice: Shaw Estate v Handler, the 2025 Ontario Court of Appeal decision unanimously upholding the trial verdict against a Brampton emergency physician for failing to recall a 34-year-old patient after receiving updated CT findings indicating a possible post-bariatric internal hernia. By Paul Cahill, LSO Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation.

Shaw Estate v Handler: The Court of Appeal Upholds Liability for a Failure to Recall After Critical Imaging

The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the trial verdict in Shaw Estate v Handler, affirming the standard of care to recall a patient after critical CT findings.

December 16, 2025

Case comment on Trozzi v CPSO, 2024 ONSC 6096 (Divisional Court), affirming OPSDT revocation. On the Doré framework, the limits of physician speech, the non-cooperation duty, and the "ungovernable physician" doctrine. By Paul Cahill, LSO Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation.

Trozzi v CPSO: The Doré Framework and the Limits of Physician Speech

The Divisional Court affirms the OPSDT’s revocation of Dr. Trozzi’s licence. The Doré framework, the non-cooperation duty, and the limits of physician speech.

November 6, 2024

Case comment on Hanson-Tasker v Ewart, 2023 BCCA 463, on the limits of the Snell adverse inference of causation in a kernicterus case. By Paul Cahill, LSO Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation.

Hanson-Tasker v Ewart: The Limits of the Snell Adverse Inference

A pre-term newborn with kernicterus lost her causation case despite a finding that her family physicians had breached the standard of care. The Snell adverse inference did not save the claim.

December 19, 2023

Case comment on Willick v Willard, 2023 ONCA 792, on a malpractice trial loss affirmed on appeal with a Court of Appeal observation about the dignity owed to the losing party. By Paul Cahill, LSO Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation.

Willick v Willard: An Appeal Dismissed With a Note on Trial Reasons

The Court of Appeal for Ontario affirmed a malpractice trial loss but observed that the trial reasons had not treated the appellants’ claim with appropriate dignity.

December 6, 2023

Notable case from Paul Cahill's practice: Hacopian-Armen Estate v Mahmoud, the 2021 Ontario Court of Appeal decision unanimously upholding the trial verdict on causation in a delayed cancer diagnosis case, clarifying the "same class or kind" foreseeability analysis. By Paul Cahill, LSO Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation.

Hacopian-Armen Estate v Mahmoud: An Appeal on Causation and the “Same Class or Kind” Foreseeability Analysis

The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld Paul Cahill’s trial verdict in Hacopian-Armen Estate v Mahmoud, clarifying the foreseeability test in delayed cancer cases.

July 29, 2021

Brown v Meaney: Clinical Judgment, Informed Consent, and Commonsense Causation on Appeal

Shaw Estate v Handler: The Court of Appeal Upholds Liability for a Failure to Recall After Critical Imaging

Trozzi v CPSO: The Doré Framework and the Limits of Physician Speech

Hanson-Tasker v Ewart: The Limits of the Snell Adverse Inference

Willick v Willard: An Appeal Dismissed With a Note on Trial Reasons

Hacopian-Armen Estate v Mahmoud: An Appeal on Causation and the “Same Class or Kind” Foreseeability Analysis

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