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Criminal Conviction of Alberta Physician Does Not Result in Revocation
A family doctor in Edmonton, who was convicted and sentenced in criminal law was recently disciplined by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta’s (CPSA) Hearing Tribunal after admitting to unprofessional conduct. The CPSA Hearing Tribunal determined that revoking the physician’s practice permit was unnecessary, allowing her to return to practice under specific terms and conditions.
Learn moreCase Law Update: JFR v KLL 2024 ONCA 520
Johann Annisette | February 04, 2025
Last fall, I presented at the OBA Health Law Section – Case Law Update, a quarterly session aimed at summarizing recent important cases in the health law area. I presented the 2024 Ontario Court of Appeal decision, JFR v KLL, 2024 ONCA 520. While this is a family law case on its face, it has a huge bearing on health and disability law, as it fundamentally concerns the rights and autonomy of adult people living with disabilities.
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Social Media Can Be as Addictive and Harmful as Tobacco – Maybe It Should Be Similarly Regulated
Social media’s correlation with declining mental health and its borderless, easily accessible nature make it a national public health problem analogous to a dangerous substance that causes lethal diseases, argues author Max Sun.
Learn moreHow a Home Construction Case Impacts on Professional Regulation in Healthcare
Anne Marshall and John McIntyre, McIntyre Szabo PC | April 24, 2024
This article is an update for health lawyers on the recent Divisional Court case in Yarco Developments Inc. v. Home Construction Regulatory Authority (Registrar) 2024 ONSC 93. It may seem odd to you at first glance that an article about a home construction case is being included in the OBA Health Law Newsletter. But trust us, it is directly relevant to the practice of health law, particularly on professional regulation and registration matters.
Learn moreDecember 2023 Case Law Summaries
Johann Annisette | January 09, 2024
On December 20th, 2023, Anna Lei and Hanna Rioseco of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP presented at the OBA Health Law Section – Case Law Update, summarizing recent important cases in the area. Both Anna and Hanna provided key takeaways from the three cases presented, which will be important to keep in mind for healthcare providers, individuals, and lawyers practicing within the field.
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Maria McDonald, Lonny Rosen, Sarah Virani | November 03, 2023
In this edition of the OBA Health Law’s Section Insider, we spoke with those who participated in nominating Kate Dewhirst, the 2023 recipient of the Susan Davidson Memorial Award for Excellence in Health Law. Kate is the founder of the law firm, Kate Dewhirst Health Law. Kate advises health care organizations on risk management, privacy, system integration, and credentialing issues.
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A Health Law, Data Management & Cyber Security Cheat Sheet
Eric S. Baum & Carina Lentsch | June 29, 2023
It is widely understood that professional services and health care are among the most common industries targeted by cyber attacks, which puts law firms practicing health law squarely in the crosshairs of cyber criminals. This “cheat sheet” document is intended to provide some practical suggestions for health law practitioners to consider when contemplating the increasingly thorny area of electronic data management and cyber security.
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Reducing Barriers for US-trained Physicians to Practice in Ontario
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has proposed changes to its registration policies to encourage more US-trained physicians to practice in Ontario. This article briefly highlights the different pathways through which physicians may become registered to practice in Ontario. The proposed policies are not yet in force and, for now, the old pathways still apply.
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Lucy G. Jackson | April 28, 2023
This article summarizes an important medical negligence class proceeding decision that addresses the use of circumstantial evidence to support findings of negligence and discusses common, class-wide findings of breach of the standard of care and causation. The Court of Appeal approved of the lower court’s reliance on statistical evidence with respect to rates of infection and agreed that there was a causal link between the class members’ infections and the Defendant’s subpar IPAC practices.
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Lindsay Carbonero | January 10, 2023
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (the "AODA") was enacted with the goal of creating an accessible Ontario by 2025. In 2017, the Health Care Standards Development Committee was asked to develop recommendations for a new accessibility health care standard. The Committee recently published their final recommendations, with broad implications on the health care sector.
Learn moreHow Much is Enough: Meeting the threshold for the tort of intrusion upon seclusion
Sarah Virani | December 16, 2022
The Ontario Divisional Court's decision in Stewart v Demme, 2022 ONSC 1790, a class action case against William Osler Health System and one of its ex-nurses (Demme), discusses the tort of intrusion upon seclusion in the context of a privacy breach. The intrusion under review here, namely, accessing health information in order to misappropriate opioids and support Ms. Demme's addiction, was not so offensive or significant as to cry out for a remedy.
Learn morePrivate Health Care in Canada is Back in the News
Janet Ozembloski, Anna Marrison, Heather Webster, Holly Ryan | October 19, 2022
Cambie Surgeries Corporation v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2022 BCCA 245 has brought the perennial subject of private health care once again to the fore. Though some patients may be deprived of the right to life and security of the person, allowing for private care would increase wait times even further for those who cannot access private care.
Learn more9 Questions Between Generations
Jennifer O'Dell | January 05, 2022
In our second installment, we asked Lonny Rosen and Joshua Lerner the same nine questions and recorded their responses. Lonny is an experienced health law advocate and founding partner of Rosen Sunshine LLP, while Joshua is a fourth year associate at the firm.
Learn moreIn Case You Missed It: Top Legal Pandemic Issues for Health Care Providers for the Fall of 2021
Nicole Fielding - Koziebrocki Law | January 05, 2022
The legal issues affecting health professionals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to evolve with society’s response to COVID-19. The recent rollout of vaccinations brought unprecedented challenges for health professionals struggling to navigate this new legal landscape. In November, the OBA’s Health Law Section presented a program which addressed some of the most current issues facing both health law lawyers and regulated health professionals.
Learn more9 Questions Between Generations
Jennifer O'Dell | October 23, 2021
In this series, we ask one seasoned litigator and one litigator just starting out the same questions. We often forget that many of our colleagues are coming from different perspectives when approaching a file, a client, or an intra-office interaction. We hope these questions and answers will help illuminate how lawyers, both senior and junior, navigate the practice of health law.
Learn moreOBA Privacy Law Summit 2021 – PHIPA in the Age of Digital Health
In the session “PHIPA in the Age of Digital Health,” panelists Mary Jane Dykeman (INQ Law), Anita Fineberg (Anita Fineberg & Associates Inc), Daniel Girlando (Borden Ladner Gervais LLP), and Erica Zarkovich (LifeLabs), discussed the recent amendments to the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), and emerging issues in digital health.
Learn moreCross-Canada Virtual Care Licensure Requirements and Best Practices
Virtual care has allowed Canadians more convenient and faster access to health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. For health care providers who wish to practice virtual care across provinces and territories licensing challenges remain. This article summarizes licensing requirements for physicians practising virtual care across provincial or territorial borders, as well as tips and best practices for regulated health professionals.
Learn morePrivacy and Body Temperature Taking During COVID-19
Abby Benattar and Wendes Keung | May 03, 2021
As the pandemic persists, a health practitioner’s office must maintain measures that protect its community’s safety in the most contactless way possible. Biometric kiosks are one way to achieve this objective. However, the use of biometric kiosks carries a host of privacy concerns regarding body temperature as personal health information and the expectation of privacy.
Learn moreCarina Lentsch, principal lawyer, ACL LAW | April 30, 2021
On March 17, 2021, the federal government passed Bill C-7: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying), which legally expands access to MAID in Canada. This article offers a high-level overview of how we got here and what has changed since Bill C-7 has become the law of the land.
Learn moreFull Names of Parties Now Published in HPARB Complaint Review Decisions
Lad Kucis, partner, Gardiner Roberts LLP | April 30, 2021
HPARB has changed its former practice of anonymizing its published decisions and is now publishing the names of parties when releasing its decisions on canlii.org. Lad Kucis, a partner of Gardiner Roberts who practices health law and professional regulation, discusses this recent change and the potential impacts on healthcare professionals and patients.
Learn moreMeet Your Practitioners: Medical Malpractice Edition
Jonathan Farine, introduction by Carina Lentsch, ACL LAW | March 03, 2021
We are excited to share with you the insights of five prominent members of the bar with extensive experience in medical malpractice litigation, both from the perspective of plaintiffs and defence counsel. Whether you are currently working on medical malpractice files, considering a career in this interesting and complex area of litigation, or are just curious about what senior members of the bar who practice in this field have to say about their work, read on.
Learn moreA Recap of PD Programming: Effective Advocacy Before Health Discipline Committees
Carina Lentsch, ACL LAW - www.acllaw.ca | March 03, 2021
Effective advocacy in health law requires the ability to argue before a variety of adjudicators. Read this summary of the OBA Health Law Section's recent PD program on Advocating before Health Discipline Committees and gain valuable insights from the decision-makers themselves about how counsel can advocate effectively for their clients at health discipline committee hearings.
Learn moreCase Comment: LTC Mandatory COVID Testing Policy upheld in Labour Arbitration
Carina Lentsch, ACL Law - www.acllaw.ca | January 04, 2021
Health-care workers in long-term care (LTC) and retirement homes may be required by their employers to undergo COVID-19 testing. This was the decision of arbitrator Dana Randall in Christian Labour Association of Canada v Caressant Care Nursing & Retirement Homes, 2020 CanLII 100531 (ON LA). This article summarizes key points of the arbitral decision.
Learn moreE-Hearings: The New Normal for Discipline Hearings During COVID-19
Carina Lentsch, ACL Law - www.acllaw.ca | January 04, 2021
This article comments on the recent decision of the discipline committee of the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) in College of Nurses of Ontario v Ramos, 2020 CanLII 82614 (ON CNO), denying a deferral of a virtual hearing until a time where in-person hearings are resumed.
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