Jonathan Gutman

The appellant, a former nurse, appealed the dismissal of her motion for a declaration that her insurer (HIROC) owed her a duty to defend against multiple civil actions.

These underlying actions alleged the tort of intrusion upon seclusion, negligence, breach of statute, and breach of fiduciary duty, stemming from her unauthorized access of patient records to obtain narcotics.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's decision, finding no duty to defend.

The court affirmed that the tort of intrusion upon seclusion, whether intentional or reckless, involves conduct that is not "accidental" and thus falls outside the policy's definition of "occurrence" and within the intentional act exclusion.

The court also rejected the argument that denying coverage for intentional privacy breaches would nullify the policy, as it still covered negligent privacy breaches.

During a medical negligence trial, the plaintiffs brought a motion to strike the evidence of the defendant doctor's emergency medicine expert.

The plaintiffs alleged the expert was biased because his spouse, also a physician, had privileges at the defendant hospital.

The court applied the Mohan and White Burgess framework and found no disqualifying bias, noting the expert's opinion was formed before his spouse obtained privileges and he had no relationship with the defendants.

The motion to strike the expert evidence was dismissed.

The plaintiffs brought a medical malpractice and wrongful death action against an emergency room physician, two nurses, and a hospital following the sudden death of a 40-year-old woman from an acute aortic dissection.

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants breached the standard of care by failing to diagnose the condition, failing to order a CT angiogram, and failing to refer the patient to a specialist in a timely manner.

The plaintiffs also alleged that the medical records were falsified and that the defendants' care was compromised by anti-Black racism and sexism.

The court dismissed the action, finding that the physician and nurses met the applicable standards of care.

The court held that the patient presented with symptoms consistent with more common conditions like acute coronary syndrome, and that the physician's investigative approach was appropriate.

The court also found no evidence of record falsification or discriminatory conduct.

The appellant appealed a summary judgment decision dismissing her medical malpractice, defamation, and negligence claims against multiple defendants including paramedic services, nine physicians, a hospital, and a medical clinic.

The motion judge had granted summary judgment on all claims.

The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissals but amended the judgment regarding Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre to clarify that only claims relating to Triage Nurse J. Doe's actions on March 10 and 11, 2012 were dismissed, not all claims against the hospital.

The appellant's appeal was otherwise dismissed with costs awarded to the respondents.

The plaintiffs, the estate and family members of Sandra Zarubiak, brought a medical negligence action against Dr. John Luce, Nurse Kathy Cull, and the Niagara Health System.

They alleged that Sandra's discharge from the hospital, despite her deconditioned state and fall risk, led to a subsequent fall, lacerations, and a fatal infection.

The court found that neither Dr. Luce nor Nurse Cull breached the standard of care, concluding that Dr. Luce's decision was a matter of professional judgment, and Nurse Cull's actions were meticulous.

Furthermore, the court determined that the plaintiffs failed to establish causation, as the source of the fatal infection could not be definitively linked to the fall or pre-existing wounds, with both theories being equally plausible.

The action was dismissed.

In a medical malpractice action brought by a self-represented and incarcerated plaintiff, the court addressed several procedural motions in case management.

The plaintiff sought leave to amend the statement of claim, compel answers to discovery questions, obtain production of hospital employment documents, strike portions of an affidavit, and require production of audio recordings from discovery.

The court granted the motion to amend and the motion to strike specified affidavit paragraphs on consent.

Motions seeking further answers to questions, additional productions from the hospital, and production of audio recordings were dismissed for lack of relevance or because the requested materials were not in the defendants’ possession.