Commentaire d’arrêt : St-Germain c Benhaim – Un Jugement Audacieux et Habile (Case Comment: St-Germain v. Benhaim – A Bold and Clever Decision)
2015; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1556-5068
Autores Tópico(s)Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues
ResumoFrench Abstract: Le 5 decembre 2014, la Cour d’appel du Quebec rendait une decision majeure, St-Germain c Benhaim, 2014 QCCA 2207, portant sur le lien de causalite entre l’omission d’effectuer des tests et prendre d’autres mesures qui auraient permis de diagnostiquer le cancer d’un patient en temps utile et son deces eventuel. Dans son jugement, la majorite de la Cour d’appel base une inference quant a la causalite medicale sur le seul fondement d’une donnee statistique, justifiant cet allegement de preuve par le fait que les defendeurs ont, par leur faute, empeche les demandeurs de prouver la causalite. Le commentaire cherche a montrer comment cette decision fait preuve d’audace en s’eloignant de l’orthodoxie ambiante et manipule les concepts pertinents de facon habile.English Abstract: On 5 December 2014, the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered a groundbreaking decision, St-Germain c Benhaim, 2014 QCCA 2207, regarding the causal link between, on the one hand, an omission to conduct tests and take other steps that could have enabled a patient’s cancer to be diagnosed in due time, and on the other hand, his eventual death. In its judgment, the majority of the Court of Appeal drew an inference of medical causation on a single statistic, and justified this relaxation of the evidentiary burden on the grounds that the defendants, through their own fault, had prevented the plaintiffs from establishing causation. This case comment seeks to demonstrate the boldness of the decision in distancing itself from established case law orthodoxy and its skillful handling of the relevant concepts.
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