Wrongful death claims in Ontario arise under two complementary statutory frameworks. Section 61 of the Family Law Act grants a statutory right of recovery to certain family members (the spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, and siblings of the deceased) for damages caused by the death, including loss of guidance, care, and companionship, lost income from caregiving services provided to the deceased, and pecuniary losses such as funeral and travel expenses. Section 38(1) of the Trustee Act permits the estate to maintain the claim the deceased would have had at the time of death, including for pain and suffering experienced before death.
The two statutory schemes have distinct limitation periods. Section 38(3) of the Trustee Act sets a strict two-year limitation period from the date of death for estate claims, which is not subject to the discoverability principle in section 5 of the Limitations Act, 2002. Family Law Act claims are subject to the basic two-year period in the Limitations Act, 2002, with discoverability. Mismatched limitation analysis between the two statutes is a recurring source of preliminary motions in wrongful death cases.
Posts tagged Wrongful Death analyze Ontario decisions involving deaths arising from medical care, including the assessment of damages under both statutes and the procedural interaction between the two.
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.
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.
New Brunswick court holds anesthesiologist negligent in death of 36-year-old patient with severe obesity and sepsis after spinal anesthesia choice and management.
Manitoba Court of Appeal affirms dismissal of delayed colon cancer diagnosis claim. The Benhaim framework on adverse inferences and statistical evidence in causation.
Ontario Superior Court dismisses fatal aortic dissection claim against internist and ED physician. The standards of care for mild aortic dilation and hypertensive chest pain.
Alberta King’s Bench dismisses critical care malpractice claim. Standard of care breached on echocardiography timing, but causation defeated by temporal mismatch.
When inadequate vancomycin monitoring produces a preventable death. The standard of care, the multi-provider liability picture, and the legal framework.
A settlement on behalf of the family of a 39-year-old mother of two whose breast cancer was diagnosed too late after a missed opportunity to investigate.
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.
Paul Cahill won a trial verdict in Hacopian-Armen v Mahmoud where Justice Brown found a gynecologist negligently failed to biopsy and missed a curable cancer.
Paul Cahill settled a wrongful death claim against a family physician who failed to provide the HCC surveillance that hepatitis B carriers require.
Paul Cahill settled a wrongful death claim after hospital staff failed to connect oxygen tubing to a patient’s CPAP machine, leading to cardiac arrest.
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