Dr. Harry Rakowski

The applicant's husband died of a fatal arrhythmia shortly after being involved in a motor vehicle accident.

The respondent insurer denied death and funeral benefits, arguing that the deceased's pre-existing coronary artery disease would have inevitably caused a fatal cardiac event independent of the accident.

The Tribunal applied the purpose and causation tests, finding that the stress of the accident triggered myocardial ischemia and a fatal arrhythmia.

The Tribunal preferred the evidence of the applicant's expert cardiologist over the respondent's expert, concluding that the accident was the direct cause of the death.

The applicant and her children were awarded death benefits, funeral benefits, and interest on overdue amounts.

No costs were awarded.

The appellants, three physicians, appealed a trial judgment finding them liable in negligence for the delayed diagnosis and death of a patient from infective endocarditis.

The trial judge found the emergency room resident breached the standard of care by failing to review a SARS form containing critical clinical history, and held the supervising physician vicariously liable.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal regarding the supervising physician, as vicarious liability was neither pleaded nor argued at trial.

However, the Court dismissed the appeal regarding the resident's breach of the standard of care and the trial judge's causation findings, concluding that the evidence supported the determination that a timely diagnosis would have prevented the patient's death.