Suing your doctor: Contentious malpractice system in for shakeup as judge’s review nears end

It’s the only way for patients to seek justice when they’ve been harmed by health-care error, but Canada’s medical-malpractice system is itself rife with controversy.

Patients complain of a scorched-earth defence approach by doctors, the number of lawsuits filed has been shrinking and the costs for governments that subsidize physicians’ liability coverage have been rising sharply.

A respected former judge, however, is about to shake up the system, putting the final touches on a largely unheralded, government-commissioned report with the potential to transform what happens when doctors get sued.

Source: Suing your doctor: Contentious malpractice system in for shakeup as judge’s review nears end NATIONAL POST