This is the final installment of our series aimed at providing a detailed examination of the challenges and pitfalls in different areas of medical negligence lawsuits, and approaches to overcoming them. Each article has focused on specific injuries and highlighted the obstacles a plaintiff faces in bringing their case to a successful conclusion. Our next series, which will debut in the Winter 2024 edition of The Verdict, will focus on practical and evidentiary issues in medical malpractice.

This article concludes our current series by considering one of the most critical and costly aspects of any medical malpractice lawsuit: the client’s care plan. It will proceed by describing the principles of autonomy, choice, and independence that underpin all cost of future care analyses, as repeatedly reiterated by the Supreme Court of Canada; flagging proposals for care that are commonly found in defence submissions and the case law, which contravene these principles; and providing specific advice on how to develop and present a care plan successfully in mediation and at trial.

This is the next article in our series aimed at providing a detailed examination of the challenges and pitfalls in different types of medical negligence lawsuits and approaches to overcoming them. Kate McInnes focusses on cases where miscommunications have caused or contributed to a plaintiff’s injury. The importance of communication in Canada’s team-based model of healthcare is discussed, and the role that complete and accurate communication of patient information plays in defining the standard of care of physicians and nurses is explained, using a recent B.C. Supreme Court judgement as a case study.

This is the ninth article in our series aimed at providing a detailed examination of the challenges and pitfalls in different types of medical negligence lawsuits and approaches to overcoming them. Andrea Donaldson discusses specific issues that arise in delayed diagnosis cases, including the challenges of proving causation as well as the role of the conduct of the plaintiff in these cases, and when that can lead to a finding of contributory negligence or even a complete dismissal of the claim.

This is the eighth article in our series aimed at providing a detailed examination of the challenges and pitfalls in different types of medical negligence lawsuits and approaches to overcoming them. Jessica Kim discusses wrongful birth cases, including specific issues relating to causation and the inconsistent approaches taken by courts in determining damages for the cost of care for children born due to medical negligence, either with or without disabilities.

This is the seventh article in our series aimed at providing a detailed examination of the challenges and pitfalls in different types of medical negligence lawsuits and approaches to overcoming them. Brenda Osmond discusses the importance of conducting a detailed review of the medical records in a medical malpractice lawsuit, with a focus on birth injury cases. This article reviews cases in which the courts have addressed various issues relating to medical records, including late entries, lack of charting or incomplete charting, and the interplay of medical records and a defendant’s usual practice.

This is the sixth article in our series aimed at providing a detailed examination of the challenges and pitfalls in different types of medical negligence lawsuits and approaches to overcoming them. In this article Lindsay McGivern discusses the complex issue of causation in the context of birth injury cases. This article focuses on issues related to proving that the birth injury would likely have been avoided if appropriate care had been provided.