Elizabeth Bratton

The defendants brought a motion for summary judgment in a medical malpractice claim, arguing the plaintiffs lacked expert evidence on negligence, standard of care, and causation.

Despite previous adjournments and an order for production of expert reports, the plaintiffs failed to provide any.

The court granted the defendants' motion, dismissing the action, emphasizing the critical need for expert evidence in medical malpractice cases and the unreasonableness of further delay.

The plaintiff, Denis Roy, was seriously injured in a 2004 motorcycle accident, suffering physical and psychological impairments.

His insurer, Primmum Insurance Co. (referred to as TD), initially paid attendant care benefits (ACBs) and housekeeping benefits (HKBs) but later reduced and terminated them.

Roy applied for a catastrophic impairment (CAT) determination in 2010, which TD contested for over three years before conceding in 2014.

Roy then sought retroactive ACBs and HKBs, plus statutory interest, from the date of the accident.

The court found that Roy was catastrophically impaired from the date of the accident, that the claimed retroactive ACBs were reasonable and necessary, and that TD was obligated to pay statutory interest due to its failure to comply with SABS obligations and its duty of good faith.

In an action regarding entitlement to catastrophic impairment benefits, the defendant insurer sought an order permitting its counsel to communicate with three of the plaintiff's former treating occupational therapists prior to calling them as witnesses at trial.

The insurer had retained two of the therapists to conduct section 42 assessments.

The court granted leave to bring the late motion but dismissed it on the merits.

The court held that the therapists owed a duty of confidentiality to the plaintiff arising from their therapeutic relationship, which was not waived by the plaintiff's participation in the section 42 assessments or by the limited consent forms he had signed.