Kris Bonn is turning 45 this April and he’s celebrating by giving back to the community (once again!). On April 19th at 5:00pm Kris will begin running the 400m track at Mary Ann Sills and will continue running for 24 hours. Kris will be pushing his body to the limit to raise money for Brain Injury Association Quinte District.
We Canadians love to head south during the winter to escape the snow and ice. When we leave Canada we are also leaving our universal healthcare. Medical treatment in the United States and other countries can be prohibitively expensive. That is why it is always prudent to buy travel medical insurance before you leave the country. The problem is most travel medical insurance is sold over the phone and in a peremptory manner. Too often care is not taken to carefully go over the application and that can be a serious problem.
The Day was as bright and hard as a diamond, and filled with tiny sparks of ice, like confetti in the morning sun. It was a day much like my first Christmas in Canada, and it felt like all my Christmases, rolled into one. I was middle-aged, dressed in my brand-new robes, and about to be called to the Bar. It was twenty years ago, and the memory of that day is as bright and fresh and wonderful to me as ever.
This past week Quinte Healthcare (QHC) fired a nurse for the unauthorized accessing of hundreds of patient records. As reported by the Intelligencer and Quinte News the nurse was at Belleville General Hospital (BGH). As QHC’s President and CEO Mary Clare Egberts told reporters, QHC’s privacy office in September detected the nurse’s activity at BGH.
We have come a long way in Canada in recognizing and appreciating those who suffer from “invisible” injuries, but we have a long way still to go. Too often those who are most vulnerable in our society are discriminated against because their injury or disability cannot be seen or cannot be proven with so-called objective evidence. These injuries include chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, depression, and anxiety.
Apples can now be deducted from oranges.
Originally posted on Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Blog.
I’ve practiced law now for nearly 17 years. For most of those years I’ve represented injured victims – these are the plaintiffs in legal actions. Over these years I’ve come to realize that there are several myths that pervade our system. One of the most pervasive is the myth of the named defendant.
A recent case Isacov v. Schwartzberg, 2018 ONSC 5933, destroys an injured plaintiff’s privacy in his or her social media accounts. Master Short ordered the plaintiff to produce electronic or paper copies of photographs on any of the plaintiff’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. This case is a warning to anyone who has been injured in a motor vehicle crash, from medical malpractice, slip or trip and fall or fighting an insurance company for disability benefits – what you post on Facebook or Instagram will be produced to the defence. Once you start a lawsuit, your privacy in your social media is gone.
Is this fair?
Note: This article was originally published for the Ontario Trial Lawyers’ Association.
Long-term disability insurance provides security. When disability strikes, and you cannot continue working, disability benefits can help ensure mortgage payments are made and food gets on the table. But every policy is different and can be fraught with land mines and unfortunate surprises.
For the first time in 15 years the Liberals are no longer the party in power in Ontario. When the Liberals
came into power in 2003, Ontario had a generous mandatory no-fault accident benefits for those
injured in automobile crashes and corresponding limits on innocent victims' right to sue at-fault drivers
in tort. Over the past 15 years this quid pro quo has been eroded: no-fault benefits have been slashed
while the rights for innocent victims to sue in tort have been further limited. It is a double whammy for
Ontarians, reduced no-fault benefits and limited rights to sue in tort.
