Category: Medical Malpractice

How Does Cerebral Palsy Affect Social Development?

by John McKiggan

The creation and building social relationships is one of many milestones that children affected by cerebral palsy may have difficulty in achieving. But how exactly does cerebral palsy affect social development, especially as children are learning how to walk, talk and interact with others?

Whether it is due to mobility, difficulties in communicating needs or a lack of confidence, BILA’s commitment to representing children and families affected by cerebral palsy has given us a particular insight on social development, and how families can overcome any obstruction that may impair their child’s ability to connect with others.

Benefits of Socialization

Is Neonatal Cooling Potential Evidence of Medical Malpractice?

by John McKiggan

How many children suffer brain injury during labour and delivery each year?
There are between 330,000 to 390,000 babies born in Canada each year.

Neonatal encephalopathy is a neurological (brain) injury that happens in approximately 1 out of 1000 to 6 out of 1000 births. So, approximately 330 to 1980 babies are born in Canada each year will suffer some form of neonatal encephalopathy.

You are more likely to die if you are admitted to the hospital on the weekend: Medical malpractice claims in Canada

by John McKiggan

The January issue of Men’s Health Magazine has published an article about the so-called “Weekend Effect”. It is a well-known phenomenon that has been studied for years that has established that patients are more likely to die in hospitals on the weekend compared to during the week.

A recent study in the journal of the American College of Cardiology studied 470 hospitals and determined that more than half of the patients experienced cardiac arrest on the weekend or at night.

Unfortunately, this is a well-known systemic problem and I wrote about it back in 2014: What is the safest time to be admitted to hospital? Weekend admissions carry higher risk of death. In that article I referenced a Canadian Institute for Health Information study that was conducted over three years that found a 4% increased risk of death on weekends compared to weekdays.

Misdiagnosis of Neck/Back Pain can lead to Medical Malpractice Claims

by John McKiggan

Common problem may not have a common cause

Neck and back pain is one of the most common reasons that Canadians attend for medical treatment. Some studies have shown as far back as 1998 that more than 66% of the adult population were experiencingneck and back pain and more than 80% of adults had experienced back pain during their lifetime.

Pain usually resolves

Most People will be misdiagnosed in their lifetime: Why aren’t doctors more concerned?

by John McKiggan

Proper medical treatment requires proper diagnosis

It goes without saying that getting the right diagnosis is the first step in receiving proper medical care. Obviously if a patient isn’t properly diagnosed then the treatment they receive isn’t likely to address their illness or condition (except perhaps by chance).

So medical misdiagnosis is a serious threat to patient safety. In fact medical misdiagnosis is the number one cause of medical malpractice lawsuits in Canada.

Doctor Tries to Shut Down Med Malpractice Lawsuit by Suing Victim’s Lawyers: Frank v. Legate et. al.

by John McKiggan

The Ontario Court of Appeal has released an interesting decision in the case of Cathy Frank v. Legate et al. Victims of medical malpractice in Canada face a number of barriers in getting access to justice. The claims process can be complicated, time consuming and expense. The odds are stacked against plaintiff’s in medical malpractice claims for a variety of reasons. However, as this case illustrates, a doctor in Ontario tried a novel tactic in attempting to limit medical malpractice claims her.

Dr. Cathy Frank is an obstetrician in Ontario who is the defendant in a number of medical malpractice claims. The doctor adopted the unusual strategy of suing the lawyers who represented the plaintiffs who were suing Dr. Frank. The defendant doctor alleged that statements made by the plaintiff’s law firm in their statement of claim and on their website were defamatory.

Dr. Frank also claimed that she was the victim of malicious prosecution, that the plaintiffs’ lawyers were guilty of champerty and maintenance (a very old legal principle that prohibits plaintiffs from starting litigation with an improper motive), intentional interference with economic relations and intentional infliction of mental distress. Dr. Frank sought punitive damages from the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

What’s the most dangerous time to go to the hospital? The answer may surprise you.

by John McKiggan

Did you know that there are certain times when it is more dangerous to go to the hospital?

What’s the most dangerous time to go to the hospital?

As Canadians we are proud of our health care system. We expect hospitals, doctors and nurses to provide us with excellent care no matter when we are forced to go to the hospital. That’s not an unreasonable expectation.

Medical Malpractice Claims against Doctors Continue to Drop: But is it because of improvements in medical care?

by John McKiggan

What is the CMPA?

The Canadian Medical Protective Association represents almost every doctor in Canada. The Association is a mutual defence fund that operates sort of like insurance. If a doctor is sued for malpractice, the CMPA will defend the claim and if the doctor is found liable for the plaintiff’s injuries, the CMPA will pay the compensation out of its $3 billion dollar reserve fund.

The CMPA also represents doctors in matters dealing with College of Surgeon and Physician complaints, disciplinary matters, criminal charges, and matters dealing with hospital privilege issues.

How often does Medical Malpractice happen in Canada? The answer may surprise you.

by John McKiggan

In the six years that I have been writing this blog the article that has been consistently viewed the most, year after year, is the one published on September 29, 2008: How often does Medical Malpractice Happen in Canada?

Therefore, I thought it might be useful to take another look at the issue to see if the statics have changed or if there is any new information to shed some light on the question.

The American experience

What is the Safest Time to be admitted to Hospital? Weekend Admissions Carry Higher Risk of Death.

by John McKiggan

Weekends are dangerous in Hospitals

Last week the Canadian Institute for Health Information released a study that examined four million urgent acute care hospital admissions between 2010-2013. The study found that there was a 4% higher risk of death for patients admitted to hospital on a weekend rather than a weekday.

The statistics did not apply across the board. The so called “weekend effect” did not occur in hospital admissions for obstetric, pediatric or mental health patients.