The question of medical negligence in British Columbia’s Cambridge affair
In the fall of 2017, the Cambridge physicians’ medical licences were cancelled on the basis that they had failed to meet the requirements for continued registration and licensure. Specifically, they had failed to pass the first of two required examinations designed to evaluate the physicians’ skills and medical knowledge, notwithstanding several failed attempts and several deadline extensions required for personal reasons.
Author: Susanne Raab
Download PDF
Failure to Mitigate
In tort actions a plaintiff who has suffered a loss due to negligence has a “duty to mitigate” the loss; the plaintiff cannot recover from the defendant damages which he could have avoided by taking reasonable steps.
Author: Brenda Osmond & Bob Kucheran
Download PDF
Swirski Interviews
Publication source: The Verdict, Issue 152 / Spring 2017Author: Lindsay McGivern
Download PDF
B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons protects public by delisting uncertified doctors
Drs. Sean and Rosemarie Cambridge, two foreign-trained physicians, provided medical care to hundreds of patients in Chilliwack, B.C., under a provisional medical licence issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. During this period of time, the government paid the Cambridge physicians millions of dollars in fees, according to B.C.’s Medical Service Plan (MSP) billing records. In the fall of 2017, the Cambridge physicians’ medical licences were cancelled on the basis that they had failed to meet the requirements for continued registration and licensure.
Author: Susanne Raab
Download PDF
Summary Trials in Medical Malpractice Actions
Summary trials have been supported by Canadian courts as a way to achieve timely and affordable access to the justice system. Unfortunately, they have been used almost exclusively by the defence in medical malpractice cases. In this article, we will discuss summary trial applications in the context of a medical malpractice action, review a number of cases where summary trial applications have succeeded and where they have not, and examine the impact of a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision.
Author: Andrea Donaldson & Lindsay McGivern
Download PDF
Does the Standard of Care Require a “Worst is First” Approach to Diagnosis?
Often medical malpractice lawsuits allege negligence related to making a diagnosis. Is the physician obliged to rule out the most urgent and life-threatening conditions, even if they are statistically unlikely, before arriving at more common and benign diagnosis? In this article Natalia reviews how two recent BC cases have approached this issue.
Author: Natalia Ivolgina
Download PDF