C. Hubbard

The plaintiffs in a medical malpractice action brought a motion to extend the time for service of the statement of claim on two defendant physicians, and to validate service by email.

The two physicians had left the country and were difficult to locate.

The court granted the extension of time nunc pro tunc, finding no prejudice to the defendants and that the plaintiffs had made reasonable efforts to locate them.

The court validated service by email on one physician, but declined to validate service on the other physician residing in Israel, as the plaintiffs failed to establish that email service was permitted under the Hague Convention.

The plaintiff moved for a further examination for discovery of the corporate representative of the New Vector defendants.

The initial examination was aborted because the representative produced had no personal knowledge, failed to prepare, and defence counsel improperly obstructed questioning.

The court found that the defendant's conduct in thwarting discovery constituted special circumstances justifying a second examination.

The motion was granted, and the defendant was ordered to produce a properly prepared representative and pay substantial indemnity costs of $35,000.

The appellant anaesthesiologist appealed a decision of the Discipline Committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which found he failed to maintain the standard of the profession and engaged in disgraceful conduct following the death of a patient after liposuction surgery.

The Committee revoked his certification and issued a reprimand, finding he failed to recognize the patient's critical condition, lacked insight, and dishonestly altered a resuscitation note.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the Committee's factual findings were reasonable, the appellant was not denied procedural fairness, and the penalty of revocation was appropriate given the severity of the misconduct and lack of insight.