Exploring Legal Issues, Trends and Developments

In the case of Ksiazek v. Newport Leasing Ltd., the Plaintiff was sitting in the passenger seat of her friend’s car about to make a left hand turn. Suddenly and with little warning, a pick up truck coming from the opposite direction abruptly turned into the front of the Plaintiff’s car.  The Plaintiff suffered several injuries including two fractured fingers, which required the insertion of pins accompanied by a cast. She also suffered lower back pain, a fractured sternum, soft tissue injuries, and depression amongst several other injuries. The Defendant admitted fault.

At trial, a substantial portion of the Plaintiff’s claim was for compensation relating to Past Income Loss and for Pain and Suffering.

The court awarded the Plaintiff compensation for each of these. However, the court noted the Plaintiff’s failure to mitigate her losses.  As such, it awarded her 25% less than what she would have been entitled to. Read more

Jack Layton recently announced his “temporary” hiatus from politics to deal with his personal health crisis. I was flipping through the channels when I came across a sickly looking man who very much resembled Jack Layton. To my surprise, it WAS Jack Layton. His face was thin and bony in appearance and caked with makeup hiding what must have been an even more unsightly look.  I’m not a tailor, but I could see that his suit was at least one size too big on him. He walked to and from the press table with a limp; reliant on the very same cane he held during the election campaign (which was more of a prop than a necessity back then). Read more

After being taken on by the Competition Bureau, Bell Canada has agreed to pay a monetary fine of $10 million to the Bureau for engaging in misleading advertising.

Bell Canada’s advertised prices failed to include the many hidden fees such as modem rental and phone and digital television services that were later tacked on when consumers tried purchasing the advertised products or services. For example, Bell’s bundle package, which included cable, television and home phone services was advertised as low as $69.90/month but actual prices charged were $80.27 (about 15% more). An investigation launched by the Bureau determined that Bell has been engaging in this practice since December 2007. Read more

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently dealt with the issue of whether consent is required from a patient or his/her substitute decision maker for the withdrawal of treatment in an end of life situation.

The Facts:

This case involves Mr. Rasouli, a patient who has been kept alive since October 2010 on a mechanical ventilator while being fed through a feeding tube inserted into his stomach. He developed bacterial meningitis and ventricultitis following surgery, which caused a severe and widespread brain injury as well as damage to the brainstem and the spinal cord. Read more

With approximately 422 million prescription bottles being filled up in Canada each year, it’s no wonder why medication errors are becoming very real concerns. The causes for these errors are still being researched further, but illegible doctor handwriting is likely one of several contributing factors.

One 81-year-old British Columbia woman, Nesta De Roy learned the hard way when she visited her pharmacist for a refill on blood pressure medication. Her pharmacist provided her with a bottle of new pills-identical in appearance to her last prescription, which she was to take every morning for two weeks. Unknown to her, these new pills were actually heavy sedatives-not the blood pressure medication she was expecting.  After complaining to family and friends about feelings of dizziness and drowsiness, she just assumed these were a normal part of  aging and didn’t think much of it. One day shortly after, she got behind the wheel of her car and crashed into a car dealership window. She lost consciousness for 15 minutes and narrowly escaped death. Read more