Medical malpractice in Canada and medical malpractice in Whitby, Oshawa & Toronto is a different animal entirely from our Southern neighbours, and from our ‘socialized medicine’ counterparts. Consider us a hybrid.
Canada’s hybrid status is created by our national healthcare system that runs essentially as private medical practices who bill the government. As (mostly) private practitioners (most of) our doctors and medical facilities are required to have medical liability insurance. This does mean that it is possible to sue them for medical malpractice in Canada, however, their insurance is often obtained through professional organizations and quite a bit of it is reimbursed by the government. So, our doctors pay lower rates of liability insurance than American doctors, and for two good reasons. One is that our courts have set fairly stringent limits on liability awards. The second is that insurance companies here defend themselves against lawsuits, with gusto. So yes, you can sue for medical malpractice in Canada and medical malpractice in Whitby, Oshawa & Toronto—but there are a few caveats.
Limits on Liability Awards?
Canadian law in general has a tendency to discourage parties from suing medical practitioners since our highest court created a framework that essentially caps the awards available in pain-and-suffering damage claims. This framework covers a trifecta of medical malpractice in Canada damages, which places a cap of $100,000 on ‘general damages’ for pain and suffering, loss of amenities, enjoyment of life and loss of life expectancy. This amount is pegged to inflation. There is however a clause for ‘extraordinary circumstances’ where awards on some losses may be closer to $300,000. These limits on medical malpractice awards do provide somewhat of a disincentive for citizens to launch medical malpractice lawsuits, however (another plot twist) the sum of all punitive damages has been allowed up to $1,000,000.
If you’re curious whether you have grounds for a medical malpractice in Ontario know that each case must be assessed individually and hard decisions must be made. Let us help you by informing you of your rights and the merits of your case. Give us a call, one of Canada’s best medical malpractice attorneys, with years and years of Medical malpractice in Whitby, Oshawa & Toronto.
