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Wise Health Law Successful in Review of HPARB Decision

July 04, 2019

Intrusion Upon Seclusion in Health Law

August 30, 2019

Introduction The Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA) released its groundbreaking decision of Jones v. Tsige in 2012. The common law in Ontario for the very first time recognized the right to bring a civil action for damages for an invasion...

The Dynamics of Pierringer Settlements in Health Law

September 20, 2019

What is a Perringer Settlement? A Pierringer settlement is when a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit involving multiple defendants agrees to accept a settlement sum from one or more (but not all) defendants. In exchange, the plaintiff agrees to discontinue...

An Overview of Health Law Powers in Canada

September 06, 2019

Introduction Jurisdiction over health law in Canada is a divided responsibility. The federal parliament has jurisdiction as does each province. As a shared power, the dividing line between jurisdictions is not always easy to decipher. This split jurisdiction also leads...

Assessment of Damage Awards in Health Law Actions

August 16, 2019

Introduction The term "damages" refers to the compensation sought by plaintiffs in their actions against another party, which, in a health law matter, is often one or more health care professionals. The usual cause of action is based on negligence....

Examinations for Discovery in Health Law - Who Can Attend?

February 21, 2019

Examinations for discovery are an essential and critically important part of the pre-trial process. They allow the parties to the lawsuit to gain admissions, prove documents, define the true issues and provide guidance on how to best move the case...

Vanessa’s Law: An Update on Recent Consultations

August 11, 2017

Today marks the end of Health Canada’s consultation period intended to inform the design of further regulations to the Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act (Vanessa’s Law). Earlier this year, Health Canada published a discussion paper presenting its proposals for...

Vanessa's Law Amendments Protecting Canadians From Unsafe Drugs and Medical Devices

August 08, 2019

Introduction Vanessa was the fifteen-year-old daughter of the then Conservative Member of Parliament Terence Young. Vanessa suffered a stomach ailment and was prescribed medication as a result. Soon after beginning the medication, Vanessa sadly died of a heart attack. The...

Universal Health Care on Trial

November 22, 2019

Dr. Brian Day is an orthopedic surgeon living and practicing in Vancouver, British Columbia. He built his medical practice in 1995. The goal was to provide private medical care on a fee for service basis. These same patients/residents could, of...

Disclosure of Mental Health Records

September 27, 2018

Legislation: Section 35 of the Mental Health Act of Ontario (MHA) prohibits the disclosure of any information obtained in the course of assessing or treating a patient in a psychiatric facility for use before a court or anybody. Disclosure is...

The Changing Landscape of Health Care Governance in Ontario

March 21, 2019

The current system of health care administration in Ontario is governed by the Health System Integration Act ("HSIA") passed in 2006. The Act created fourteen (14) Local Health Integration Networks ("LHIN’") each covering their own geographical portion of the province....

Ontario’s Health Care Consent Act in Action

February 28, 2020

The Health Professional as an Expert Witness: Part II

July 25, 2019

Introduction In last week's blog, we reviewed the general rule as to the non-admissibility of opinion evidence and the exception for expert evidence. We also examined the two-stage test for the admissibility of any expert testimony and the common law...

Mental Health Assessments of Individuals Deemed 'Not Criminally Responsible'

April 25, 2019

Perpetrators of crime can be found to be not criminally responsible (NCR) when their criminal behaviour is due to a diagnosed mental illness. The crime committed becomes known as the "index offence". They are then managed by the Ontario Review...

The “Ter Neuzen” Principle in Health Care

August 02, 2019

Introduction Health professionals have a duty in law to conduct their practices in accordance with the conduct of a prudent and diligent peer in the same circumstances. If the health care professional is considered to be a specialist, their actions...

Addiction as a Disability for the Health Care Professional

July 11, 2019

A recent decision considered whether a nurse fired for theft and use of opioid drugs at work had faced discrimination due to her addiction. Background A registered nurse (RN) was, unfortunately, addicted to opioids. Her employer, a public hospital, discovered...

Regulated Health Professionals and Equivalent Program Training

December 27, 2018

The Ontario Divisional Court (ODC) recently addressed the issue of equivalent program training in the context of a regulated health profession (in this case, psychology). At issue was whether or not an applicant who had completed a PhD in Developmental...

Health Canada Proposes Regulations for Improved National Reporting of Assisted Deaths

December 21, 2017

The Health Professional as an Expert Witness: Part I

July 19, 2019

Introduction It is a common practice in all forms of litigation to have experts involved. Sometimes they are retained to provide advice and guidance in the background, but most often one of the parties will want the experts to testify...

Does a Health Professional have a Duty to Warn?

February 08, 2019

The Scenario Imagine you are referred a patient. During the clinical interview, your new patient describes their intention to kidnap, rape and then kill someone or some group of similar persons. You become convinced that this individual is clearly dangerous...

The Health Professions Appeal and Review Board: Things You Need to Know

December 13, 2018

The Health Professions Appeal and Review Board (HPARB) is an independent adjudicative body established under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA). The RHPA reviews certain types of decisions made by regulatory health care bodies and Colleges in Ontario. It is...

Ontario's Health Care Consent Act, Capacity, and Consent to Treatment

December 07, 2018

Information and Privacy Commissioner Releases Latest Decision on Patient's Requests for Changes to Health Records

April 19, 2018

In a recent decision, the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) upheld a hospital’s decision to refuse to correct a patient’s health records and remove what the patient perceived as incorrect and inaccurate information that had led to the patient having...

Public Interest and Abuse of Process: A Health Professionals Right to Procedural Fairness Following a Complaint

November 08, 2018

The Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) is designed to ensure that the health professions are regulated in the public interest, that appropriate standards of practice are developed and maintained, and that individuals have access to services provided by the health...

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