Doc Not Negligent

Remember that tubal ligation case I mentioned last week?

Looks like the jury is in:
Doctor not negligent in case where woman lost limbs: jury
as found on the CBC News website.

The six-person jury [Lisa's note - 6 person ALL-FEMALE jury] reached that decision Wednesday afternoon after deliberating for two days in the case of Dr. Kenneth Graham and Lisa Baert.

Eight years ago, Baert lost her hands and feet and suffered brain damage after tubal ligation surgery was performed by Graham.

During the trial held over the past month, the jury heard her bowel was punctured during the sterilization procedure at a Lloydminster hospital and the mistake wasn't discovered for days. There was a second operation and Baert suffered a cardiac arrest. She went into septic shock and had her limbs amputated in an Alberta hospital.

The family claimed Graham was negligent and was seeking more than $10 million in damages. The doctor denied he was negligent, saying his patient didn't follow instructions after she was discharged from the hospital.

The jury heard the case over several weeks. It decided Graham did meet the standard of care required of him. It also decided he received the informed consent of Baert for the tubal ligation.

Baert currently lives in a long-term care facility in Saskatoon.

Let this be a lesson to guys out there - get vasectomies ... just kidding (kind of) ... I don't mean to trivialize a horrible story, and I'm certainly NOT suggesting that her husband is to blame in any way - but I have to admit that it's what occurred to me while I was reading it. Vasectomies, vasectomies, vasectomies.

Remember the Glorious, Sunny Fall Weather?

Check out my post from November 10th, 2007.

Now ... look at a pic from today:


It's -35 degrees with windchill, I had to wear long underwear today (thank goodness for long underwear), and the snow isn't slowing down.

Sigh.

Winter is here.

BUT ... I have to focus on how lucky we were with the fall, right? The fall was so beautiful. Focus on the fall ... and on the fact that spring isn't THAT far away.

I Can't Stop Surfing - Someone Scold Me!

I have a case commentary to read before health law this AM, and I can't stop surfing the net. AURGH! Too many interesting things to read about, too little time.

I wanted to post a shout-out to my new favourite product, though:
Nestle's Fat-Free Hazelnut Coffee-mate. Yum. And ... FAT-FREE. Hopefully this will get me thorugh exams ... I need all the help I can get.

Getting Married Anytime Soon?

Things to watch out for with your photographer:

Wedding Photographer to Pay Damages for Lousy Photos as posted on the Contracts Prof Blog.

I Didn't Watch It, But I Can Hear The Horns Honking Outside

Saskatchewan Roughriders Win the Grey Cup

Seems that the score was 23 - 19 ... there should be a lot of shiny, happy faces in class tomorrow.

A friend of mine from class (and her fiance) made the trek out to Toronto for the game ... I'm so happy their trip was SOOO worth it ... and I can't wait to hear about their trip!

We Took a Look at This News Item in Health Law

Interesting ... I can't wait to see the outcome of this.

Jury mulls tubal ligation injury case by: Chris Purdy, the Star Phoenix

Baert's bowel was unknowingly perforated during the laparoscopic operation in July 1999, allowing toxins to leak into her body. She was discharged from hospital but two days later was rushed back in critical condition, suffering from septic shock.
Doctors in Edmonton later had to amputate her hands and feet. She also suffered major brain damage during cardiac arrests, leaving her with the mental capacity of a child.

Now 29, she lives in Saskatoon's Parkridge Centre long-term care home where staff change her diapers and feed her.

Along with her husband Mark and their two young sons, Baert is suing Graham for more than $10 million for negligence. The Lloydminster hospital and several nurses originally named in the suit have already settled out of court.

Glazer told the all-female jury that bowel perforations are recognized risks of tubal ligation operations.

All-female jury, hunh? Sounds interesting ... from that point alone.

I Spent Last Night with Evidence

We have a love/hate relationship right now, Evidence and I. We're never really sure where the other one stands.

Luckily, I've absorbed enough to recognize the controversy over the evidential burden that seems to be highlighted in this article:

Supreme Court reinstates conviction of landlord Grover by: Betty Ann Adam, Starphoenix.com

The guilty verdict was overturned when two of three appeal court judges ruled that a properly instructed jury could have found that Grover's conduct was equally consistent with the conclusion that he didn't know the inspection had not been done and simply thought it was crucial that the inspection records be in perfect order.

Looks like the evidential burden test meets the rule in Hodge's Case - although, from the article I can't tell if this case was only based on circumstantial evidence, so I don't know if the Court actually tried to apply the rule or if the Court was just using Hodge's Case language. There has been some debate about whether a certain Supreme Court of Canada case (Charemski) resurrects the rule in Hodge's Case - I wonder if in the body of the judgment, the SCC will explicitly deal with this (IF it was an application of the rule in Hodge's Case).

"Where the accused testified and offered an explanation for his or her actions, which the trial judge rejected, it was not open to the Court of Appeal to acquit on the basis or speculation about a different possible explanation of conduct that was flatly contradicted by the accused's own testimony," the decision, handed down Thursday, states.

I'll bet this case will be in the next round of Evidence casebooks. Of course, it will be interesting to read the actual judgment, since the media report could have gotten it wrong - hmmm ... once I get a minute to breathe, I'll have to take a look-see.

And .... They're Out - AGAIN!

Pakistan has been ousted from the Commonwealth - again.

Canada supports Pakistan's ouster from Commonwealth
By: Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen @ the Star Phoenix Website

2nd time in eight years - yikes.

I've Decided It's Time to Get Serious

Yeah ... finals are looming, so I've gone into preparation mode. I'm still in slow speed, but I'm there just the same.

Spent the weekend starting to prepare my evidence cases spreadsheet - and MAN did it take me forever, and I'm only about 1/3 of the way through. Doesn't bode well for how much time I need to start putting into this stuff.

I figure if I stay on top of readings for classes from here on out, that'll help ... so tonight, I read all my BusOrg readings. Yeah ... it was a lot ... but I survived. AND NOW ... all I want to do is play a little WOW, and I have to download a bloody huge patch before I can. AURGH.

With all of the school reading, I'm a little slow on the communication skills - so you'll all have to excuse me.

I can't wait until finals are over, it'll be so nice to have a fresh start in January.

I can't believe we're almost half-way through November.

School. That's all I've been doing lately. School. I might need some light therapy or something ... need to spend some time outside.

I Just Want You to Know that I'm Grateful

Take a look at a post from November 8th last year:

November 8th, 2006

See the snow, etc??

Now ... take a look at a picture I took today of a house on a neighbouring street:



See how nicely you can see the shadow from this tree? BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE SUN!?!??!?! I am so in love with the weather this fall.

Oh Bus-Org, How You Rear Your Head

I was skimming the Precedent, and came across this article:

Executive couples must be careful to keep confidences
Vulnerable to charges of insider trading
by: Vern Krishna, Financial Post

Caught my eye, because our Bus-Org prof always jokes (kind of) with us ... "if you're going to act opportunistically ... ESPECIALLY DON'T TELL YOUR SPOUSE"

Here's a quote from the article:

An "insider" is a director, officer or senior employee of a corporation. A trade is improper where an insider buys or sells the corporation's securities based on material confidential information "Insider" also includes "tippees" -- individuals who receive improper information from insiders.

Typically, insiders have privileged access to confidential information that is not available to the general investing public. Thus, in a sense, they are fiduciaries responsible for the management of corporate information in the best interests of the corporation. That is the theory.

Unfortunately, that is not the theory. Insiders have fiduciary obligation because they have limited access to corporate resources that they could opportunistically divert. Fiduciary is not a best-interest obligation, it is the obligation not to act in your own interests without permission.

The article gets it right here, though:

It is improper, however, to use confidential information for personal profit or to pass the information on to friends.

The rest of the article has some good points too.

Ah ... Bus-Org ... how you creep into every facet of my life. Here I was, just trying to skim some legal gossip ... sigh.

Great Video

The Privacy Commissioner's Blog has a great video here - watch it if you use Facebook:

A Friend of a Friend of a Friend Knows You're on Vacation

Saskatchewan Party Wins in Saskatchewan

It's time for change
Sask. Party takes majority gov't
By James Wood, with files from Janet French, TheStarPhoenix.com

So ... the NDP is out, the Saskatchewan party is in ... should be interesting.

The Provincial election results from all of the Saskatchewan ridings are here:
Star Phoenix

I like the saskvotes.com website too - spells it out quick-like:
http://www.saskvotes.com/

The Saskatchewan party platform held some very interesting points, including:
- Increasing post-secondary spending by 28%
- Elminiating PST on used cars and trucks (uh ... wow that this even has to be there)
- Keeping Crown Corporation public --> this could be super interesting to watch

The entire platform can be read here:
http://www.saskparty.com/assets/pdf/New%20Ideas/SecuringTheFuturePlatform.pdf

I always find it frustrating to read this kind of stuff, because to me it reeks of marketing, not substantive policy or political statements.

We Haven't Gone There Yet

Haven't breached the Charter issues in our Evidence class yet (not sure if we do ... I'd have to dig out my syllabus ... and it's still pre-coffee hour in my house) ... now my interest is piqued:

Judges urged to exercise restraint
Anti-Charter 'chainsaws' lubricated
By Helen Burnett - LawTimes

Still Alive and Kicking

I'm finally feeling like I can breathe now. It seems that it's been one thing or another for a long time. We've moved, travelled back and forth to Calgary, unpacked, I've had interviews and a couple of assignments ... it's been a long haul so far ... and now I'm settling in for the final run.

Ahhh finals, how I loathe your approach. There never seems to be enough time to do everything that I should.

With the CUPE strike @ U of S, our classes have been held off campus, and my routine has been shot. I'm totally a routine girl ... I like being able to get into a rhythm. The radio this morning says that the roads are slippery, so I'm thinking of walking to our alternative class venue ... might have to dig out the mitts.

PS - ANTM - how weird was that whole "I don't think I'm losing weight ..." thing ... um ... you'd have to figure that either you're shrinking, or your clothes are growing ... and last time I checked, clothes shrink, not grow (heh, heh, heh). I'm sure that the whole situation is stressful, and I know for sure that some people lose weight as a side-effect ... but ... it seemed weird that she denied it all. Hmmmm ....