Medical malpractice case

Dr. Rogers, a family physician, saw Ms. Anderson in his medical clinic in Remoteville, a small town in Northern Ontario. Ms. Anderson had a history of high blood pressure and headaches. Dr. Rogers noted headache, left-sided numbness, unsteadiness on her feet, intermittent slurring of speech, involuntary eye movements, and an elevated blood pressure. He decided to reduce her blood pressure with medication, bringing it to within normal limits.

She became dizzy and her left arm became weaker. He immediately transferred her by emergency vehicle to the closest imaging department, in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Unfortunately, the imaging revealed a tear in the lining of her vertebral artery (which supplies blood to the back of the brain), an uncommon condition with an incidence of 1 in 100,000 cases.

Despite anti-coagulant medication, Ms. Anderson later suffered a stroke and was left completely paralyzed.

Ms. Anderson now sues Dr. Rogers for negligence and the Remoteville medical clinic for not having an imaging device, which would have cost the clinic $300,000, but would have reduced funds for other services. Her damages are proven to be $3 million, required for all of the care she will need in the future. Without compensation, she will suffer, as OHIP and disability payments will only cover a fraction of the care required.

1) In the context of these facts, make an argument that Dr. Rogers and the hospital were not negligent in their respective actions.

2) Did the Dr. Rogers owe the plaintiff a duty of care? If so, did Dr. Rogers breach that standard of care? Was that breach in standard of care a direct result of the harm sustained by the plaintiff?

Include a summary of the law and an argument based solely on Ontario and Canadian tort law, including an argument for the legal remedies that your side is seeking in tort law.