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Archives for April 2018

Paul McGivern Co-Chairs Medical Legal Conference 2016

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Paul McGivern co-chaired the CLEBC 2016 Medical Legal Conference in Vancouver on October 21, 2016. The speakers included physicians and lawyers, with topics including a discussion of cognitive errors and decision failure, a review of recent opioid prescribing guidelines, and a presentation about medical assistance in dying. A panel discussion about medical legal matters in litigation included a perspective from the Honourable Madam Justice Neena Sharma.

Although the conference was well received overall, Paul’s presentation on causation got particular mention as “the best [presentation] by far because it was a clear, concise, compelling summary of the law and its evolution.” Other reviewers described Paul as a “wonderful orator, informative, insightful” and “outstanding.” CLEBC hopes to follow-up this successful conference in the coming years.

Brenda Osmond speaks to UBC 4th year pharmacy students

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Brenda Osmond was a guest lecturer at the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences on Friday, November 4th. She spoke to the 4th year Pharmacy Management Class regarding Professional Obligations and Civil Liability. Over 100 students attended the talk, in which Brenda discussed the complaints review process of the College of Pharmacists of BC, contrasted that with professional negligence lawsuits, and reviewed strategies to avoid potential lawsuits.

Paul McGivern quoted in Recovery – Personal Injury Magazine Vol. 3 No. 2, 2016

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Paul McGivern was recently interviewed by Recovery – Personal Injury Magazine and was quoted extensively in the article “Workplace Cancer Standard of Proof Clarified.” The article discussed the June 2016 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada British Columbia (Worker’s Compensation Appeal Tribunal) v. Fraser Health Authority 2016 SCC 25 which reaffirmed the principle that definitive scientific evidence is not required to find a causal link between the workplace and medical illness or injury.

Contrasting the burden of proof in occupational disease cases and medical malpractice cases, Mr. McGivern noted that Workers Compensation board policies indicate that the workplace need only be of ‘causative significance’ or ‘more than a trivial or insignificant aspect’ in the development of the worker’s illness. He explained that this is a lower burden of proof than in a medical malpractice case where the plaintiff must demonstrate that the injury would not have taken place but for the defendant’s negligence.

Paul McGivern quoted in a National Post/Vancouver Sun article, regarding the causes and incidences of catastrophic birth injuries in Canada.

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The article “When the Outcomes are Bad, They’re awful” published in the Vancouver Sun on Friday, September 16, 2016, was prompted by a recent analysis done by the Canadian Medical Protective Association, the medical malpractice insurance group for Canadian doctors. The Association revealed that tens of millions of dollars have been paid to families for “botched deliveries” that left at least 25 babies and two mothers’ dead and untold numbers of children severely disabled. The Association reviewed 169 lawsuits and provincial regulatory college complaints involving obstetric emergencies over the past 10 years, including 50 cases from 2010 to 2014, “nearly all of which involved serious patient harm.”

The article referenced Paul McGivern , a Vancouver lawyer whose practice over the last several years has focused on birth injuries and referred to a case that was resolved in June this year in which a B.C. Supreme Court judge awarded Mr. McGivern’s client $5.2 million for brain damage suffered when her mother experienced a uterine rupture. Mr. McGivern said he sees the same problems time and again. “Physicians and nurses just get kind of inured to the symptoms that they should be looking for,” he said.

In May of this year Pacific Medical Law also obtained another successful judgement from a BC Supreme Court judge in another birth injury case. This time the problem involved a pregnant woman whose symptoms of pre-eclampsia were missed when she visited a hospital emergency room. While the nurse involved in her case gave evidence that she took the woman’s blood pressure and that it was normal, the judge found that the nurse had reconstructed her evidence and that the nurse had not, in fact, taken the blood pressure. Two days later she suffered a seizure that ultimately caused a severe brain injury in her unborn baby. The child was left with severe cerebral palsy with developmental and cognitive impairment. The case is currently under appeal.

Susanne Raab again recognized by The Best Lawyers in Canada®for 2017

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Congratulations to Susanne Raab for having once again been recognized as a leader in Medical Negligence law, through selection by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in Canada 2017.

Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. A listing in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers. For more than three decades, Best Lawyers lists have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals anywhere.

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