AMERICAN AND CANADIAN PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE IN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LITIGATION - A PLAINTIFF PERSPECTIVE

Authors

  • H ALAMOUREUX SEMENAK
  • NATHAN H SMITH

Abstract

The Pritchard Commission Report expresses concern about the rising cost of medical malpractice claims, both from the plaintiffs perspective and from the perspective of rising insurance premiums. The authors of this article suggest that the rising cost of litigation from the plaintiffs perspective may in part be attributed to the lack of incentive to the parties to provide a full disclosure to one another as to the appropriate standard of care and as to particulars of the position of each party with respect to the claims of negligence. They conclude that in some measure the lack of incentive to provide full disclosure is a consequence of the current wording of the Rules of Court, which are intended to govern all actions and may not specifically address the peculiar problems of the medical malpractice lawsuit. The authors compare the Alberta and British Columbia Rules of Court with the rules governing malpractice actions in the State of New York and some of the federal Rules of Court applicable in the United States with a view to providing a comparative analysis of the function of the Rules of Court in these jurisdictions from the plaintiffs perspective.

Keywords:

Tort Law

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Published

1991-09-01

Issue

Section

Legal Commentary