
Limitation Periods and Discoverability in Medical Malpractice Actions
This is the eighth article of our series discussing practical and evidentiary issues in medical malpractice. Each article will examine recent medical malpractice case law and focus on the practical and evidentiary issues within them. The goal is to provide some useful insight into the obstacles that occurred in hopes that future cases can adapt and develop new ways to overcome these challenges. In this article, Andrea Donaldson explores the issue of discoverability in medical negligence cases and what factors the courts have found to postpone the running of the limitation period.
Author: Andrea Donaldson, Pacific Medical Law
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Foreseeability and Risk of Harm in a Standard of Care Assessment
This is the seventh article of our series discussing practical and evidentiary issues in medical malpractice. Each article will examine recent medical malpractice case law and focus on the practical and evidentiary issues within them. The goal is to provide some useful insight into the obstacles that occurred in hopes that future cases can adapt and develop new ways to overcome these challenges. In this article, Lindsay McGivern explores how the concepts of forseeability and risk of harm in a standard of care assessment have directed outcomes in recent medical malpractice cases.
Author: Lindsay McGivern, Pacific Medical Law
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Causation in Medical Malpractice Cases: A Quarter-Century Review
This is the sixth article of our series discussing practical and evidentiary issues in medical malpractice. Each article will examine recent medical malpractice case law and focus on the practical and evidentiary issues within them. The goal is to provide some useful insight into the obstacles that occurred in hopes that future cases can adapt and develop new ways to overcome these challenges. In this article, Jessica Kim provides a chronological overview of the evolution of the law on causation in medical malpractice cases in the last quarter-century.
Author: Jessica Kim, Pacific Medical Law
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The Duty to Warn – When Can a Physician Breach Patient Confidentiality to Protect a Third party?
This is the fifth article of our series discussing practical and evidentiary issues in medical malpractice. Each article will examine recent medical malpractice case law and focus on the practical and evidentiary issues within them. The goal is to provide some useful insight into the obstacles that occurred in hopes that future cases can adapt and develop new ways to overcome these challenges. In this article, Andrea Donaldson discusses when the interest in public safety overrides physician-patient confidentiality and examines how the “duty to warn” has been approached by the courts over the years.
Author: Andrea Donaldson, Pacific Medical Law
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Ontario Reforms Spark Medical Malpractice Backlash
Ontario’s civil justice reforms are drawing criticism from plaintiff-side medical malpractice lawyers, who warn that proposed changes meant to simplify and expedite litigation could instead be disastrous. The latest issue of the Canadian Lawyer Magazine features Paul McGivern KC, who warns that oral examinations for discovery and limiting document disclosure could handicap patients seeking accountability in complex medical malpractice cases, while offering little efficiency.
Author: Tim Wilbur
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Digital Scribes, Legal Signatures: AI-Generated Records in Medical Malpractice
This is the fourth article of our series discussing practical and evidentiary issues in medical malpractice. Each article will examine recent medical malpractice case law and focus on the practical and evidentiary issues within them. The goal is to provide some useful insight into the obstacles that occurred in hopes that future cases can adapt and develop new ways to overcome these challenges. In this article, Lindsay McGivern and Kate McInnes discuss the legal uncertainties that arise with the increasing use of AI tools in healthcare such as digital scribes for charting, and offer suggestions for how counsel can recognize and address potential AI-related evidentiary challenges.
Author: Lindsay McGivern, Pacific Medical Law and Kate McInnes
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