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People with Disabilities

Scotiabank Charity Challenge – Team CPABC

Tuesday, July 10, 2018 By Andrea Donaldson

 

Andrea Donaldson of Pacific Medical Law participated in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge on behalf of the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC at the Vancouver Half Marathon and 5k on June 24. Andrea (centre) is photographed here with CPABC Executive Director Feri Dehdar (right), and communications intern Ashley Moliere (left). Through fundraising efforts of everyone involved, Team CPABC was able to raise $10,000 for the Association. Every dollar raised goes directly to programs and services for people living with cerebral palsy and other disabilities throughout the province.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a term used to describe a group of non-progressive, but changing, disorders affecting body movement and muscle coordination. The condition affects 1 out of every 500 people in Canada. Although there is no cure of CP, there are many types of treatment, therapies, and supports that can lessen the effects of CP and help people living with CP lead independent lives.

About the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC

The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC was started in 1954 by a group of parents who wanted to help their children living with CP reach their maximum potential within society. Today, the Association is an independent charity organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, with the mission of raising awareness of CP in the community, assisting those with CP to reach their maximum potential, and working with people living with CP to realize their place as equals in a diverse society. The Association accomplishes their mission through advocacy, encouraging networking, educating members of the public about cerebral palsy, governing relations activities, and implementing programs for individuals with cerebral palsy. The Cerebral Palsy Association’s vision is to become the recognized leader in providing information, support, and guidance to children, adults, and families living with CP in British Columbia.

Through fundraising efforts such as the Scotiabank Charity Challenge, the Cerebral Palsy Association is able to offer advocacy, counselling, and collaboration with other agencies, as well as programs to assist people living with CP and other disabilities. The Association offers pre-employment training, education bursaries, and the Campership Program, which financially assists individuals of all ages to attend a special needs camp of their choice in BC. The Association also offers recreational programs such as adapted dance, yoga, and art, as well as legal, funding, and referral resources.

The Association’s intends to remain inclusive by continuing to maintain free, high quality programs and services, with the goal of raising social awareness and helping those with cerebral palsy and other disabilities live a life without limits.

Filed Under: Cerebral Palsy, Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Community Involvement, People with Disabilities Tagged With: Birth Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Living with a Disability, Pacific Medical Law, People Living with Cerebral Palsy, People with Disabilities

The question of medical negligence in British Columbia’s Cambridge affair

Friday, July 6, 2018 By Susanne Raab

As described in part one of this series, Drs. Sean and Rosemarie Cambridge, two foreign-trained physicians, provided medical care to hundreds of patients in Chilliwack, B.C., from 2011 to 2017, under a provisional medical licence issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.

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.

Cancellation of Licenses

The cancellation of the Cambridge physicians’ medical licences naturally leads many patients to question the care they received from these doctors, and whether any medical problems they suffered were caused by substandard care, or could have been avoided with appropriate treatment.

In considering a potential medical negligence claim, it is important to recognize that the Cambridge physicians do not get the benefit of being held to a lower standard of care on the basis that they were still in the process of qualifying. The standard of care expected of them is the same as the standard of care expected of any physician, which is that he or she use that reasonable degree of learning and skill ordinarily possessed by practitioners in similar communities in similar cases (Wilson v. Swanson [1956] S.C.R. 804; Robinson v. Sydenham District Hospital Corp. [2000] O.J.

Susanne Raab

No. 703).

If a physician holds him or herself out as a family physician, he or she is held to the same standard of care as all other family physicians, regardless of whether the licensure is provisional or full. This aspect of the law makes sense as it accords with the reasonable expectations of patients who expect any physician licensed to provide medical services in British Columbia to be competent to provide a safe level of care.

Potential Liability of the Physicians

It is, however, important to appreciate that the fact that these physicians did not satisfy the examination requirements is not evidence that they fell below the required standard of care in their treatment of any individual patient. In considering potential liability on the part of these physicians, it is, in fact, not even sufficient to prove that they fell below the standard of care. In order to succeed in a medical malpractice case, in addition to establishing a duty of care and breach of the standard of care, a plaintiff must prove, usually through expert evidence, that a specific breach of the standard of care was the legal and factual cause of the plaintiff’s injury or loss (Ter Neuzen v. Korn [1995] 3 S.C.R. 674).

Even if multiple breaches in the standard of care are proven, the most challenging part of any medical negligence case is establishing that one or more of these breaches of the standard of care caused or contributed to the injury or loss. This is most often where cases fail.

Proving Medical Malpractice

Proving causation in medical malpractices cases can be challenging because typically the plaintiff has pre-existing injuries or illnesses (the impetus for seeking the impugned medical treatment in the first place) and the precise mechanism of the injury is often unknown or alternatively explained by multiple contributing factors.

Further, advances in science can serve to muddy the waters rather than connect the dots between the breach of the standard of care and the injury or loss by adding to the proliferation of “known unknowns” or potential non-negligent causes of the injury or loss.

Indeed the difficulties in proving causation in medical malpractice cases is borne out by their dismal success rate. The statistics reveal that since 1996, the success rate of plaintiffs in medical malpractice trials has never exceeded 30 per cent.

The most recent annual report of the Canadian Medical Protective Association reveals that a mere 16 per cent of medical malpractice trials in Canada in 2016 were decided in the plaintiff’s favour.

While the statistics for settlements are somewhat more favourable to plaintiffs, they still fall in the minority.

For this reason, a cautious approach, informed by a thorough and comprehensive assessment of the case with the benefit of expert opinion, is required before any medical negligence case is commenced against a physician, even a physician whom the college has deemed to be not qualified to practise medicine.

This piece was originally posted in The Lawyers Daily. You can also read the PDF from our Publications page. 

Filed Under: Health News, Legal News, Medical Malpractice Tagged With: Accessibility, Birth Injury, British Columbia, Medical Errors, Medical Malpractice, Pacific Medical Law, Pain and Suffering, People with Disabilities, Vancouver Beaches

Message from the President of the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC: Moving boldly forward, together

Thursday, June 21, 2018 By Susanne Raab

People living with cerebral palsy are tenacious. This I know for sure. When they fall, they get back up, and try and try again, until they succeed. They do not let obstacles stand in their way, and they do not allow others to tell them what they can and cannot do. They move forward with courage and a sense of humour to soften the blows of failure along the way. It is only fair that the Board of the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC try to emulate this enviable courage and determination in steering the Association forward on behalf of its members.

You can read the rest on the Cerebral Palsy Association website.

Filed Under: Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Cerebral Palsy, Community Involvement, Firm News, People with Disabilities Tagged With: Birth Injury, Birth Trauma, Cerebral Palsy, Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Living with a Disability, People with Disabilities

Meet Cindy Frostad

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 By Admin

Cindy Frostad, a passionate advocate for children living with disabilities and recent graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education will be sharing her unique perspective on why education matters. Beautifully said: “How we provide for, how much we support, and how we embrace individual differences in education is integral to the advancement of our society. Each one of us has an opportunity and a choice to ensure this happens.”  Read her full story at:

https://www.bccerebralpalsy.com/2018/02/learn-without-limits-cindy-frostad/

Filed Under: Cerebral Palsy, Accessibility, Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, People with Disabilities Tagged With: Cerebral Palsy, Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Living with a Disability, People Living with Cerebral Palsy, People with Disabilities

Meet Mohini Tahker

Wednesday, February 21, 2018 By Admin

We encourage you to attend the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC’s Annual fundraising Gala and celebrate the successes of educational bursary recipients and help raise funds to support future students. The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC is shining a spotlight on Mohini Tahker, an inspirational young woman with a love of film and creative writing. To read more about Mohini’s journey, click here:

https://www.bccerebralpalsy.com/2018/01/learn-without-limits-mohini-tahkar/

Filed Under: Accessibility, Cerebral Palsy, Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Community Involvement, People with Disabilities Tagged With: Cerebral Palsy, Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Living with a Disability, People Living with Cerebral Palsy, People with Disabilities

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