In a medical malpractice action arising from catastrophic injuries inflicted on a newborn by his biological mother, the plaintiffs alleged that a family physician and a pediatrician negligently failed to report child protection concerns under s. 72 of the Child and Family Services Act.
The court found that the family physician conducted adequate mental health and coping assessments, and that neither physician had reasonable grounds to suspect the infant was a child in need of protection.
Although the family physician breached the standard of care by not providing the pediatrician with a fuller mental health history, that breach had no causal consequence.
The court further held that, even if a report had been made, the Children's Aid Society would likely have treated the matter as low risk and would not have intervened in time to prevent the assault.
The action was dismissed, with damages nonetheless fixed by agreement at $13,250,000 under Rule 7.08.
