Latest News Articles

Since its introduction to Ontario’s accident benefit regime in September 2010, the Minor Injury Guideline (“MIG”) has remained one of the most significant barriers for motor vehicle accident victims to obtain sufficient medical and rehabilitation coverage for their injuries.  In practice, the impact of the MIG was to create a presumptive medical threshold against injured victims based on vaguely defined criteria in the MIG, and those who fell within this threshold would be subject to a $3,500 benefit limit, down from the non-MIG limit of $50,000 for med/rehab benefits.

http://www.judithhull.com/appeal-preserves-the-debilitating-mig-definition/

Scarlett v Belair Insurance, 2015 ONSC 3635 (CanLII), <http://canlii.ca/t/gjfpn>

Imagine going for surgery without the doctor telling you where they will be cutting. That would be unthinkable. Similarly, why should the client allow the lawyer to proceed without knowing what was being done?

http://www.slaw.ca/2015/06/29/76986/

“If this government can help them understand what did happen, if we can respect them by involving them in the process, if we can do the absolute maximum in terms of sharing information to give them confidence that hopefully it will never happen again to anyone else, that’s the least we should be able to do for people in such tragic circumstances.”

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/lett—edited-311388971.html

Many Canadian automobile drivers have now enrolled in usage-based insurance (“UBI”) programs to benefit from a discount on their insurance premiums. Using telematics, UBI programs record several factors such as acceleration, hard braking, mileage driven, time of day travelled and sharp turns to analyze driving behaviour and reward safe driving. New technology now allows smartphone applications to track such driving habits.

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=26017612-7f37-43e5-8a53-9110a45df712

A staged collision is when another driver may signal or wave for you to take some sort of driving action like making a left turn through traffic or turning through and intersection. The driver will then intentionally collide with and cause an accident and deny that they gave you the right of way. The different types of staged collisions involving innocent victims – the “Swoop and Squat,” the “Drive Down” and the “Left Turn” are presented and explained in the video.

http://www.thinkinsure.ca/car-auto-insurance-news/car-insurance-fraud-in-ontario-video.html#.VZGMW1JqS1A

Dr. Carol Leet, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, writes an extensive explanation of the college’s initiative in requiring errant physicians, found guilty of various offences by a discipline panel consisting of physicians and public lay people, to adhere to “undertakings,” which impact the physician’s future practice.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2015/06/26/cpso-protected-its-own.html

When an accident that results in a spinal injury occurs, the damage may be impossible to undo. While individuals who suffer from the injury learn to live life differently, researchers search for effective treatments. In a previous post we wrote about how stem cells transplants have restored sensation to some paraplegics. That study was conducted by researchers based throughout the world, including in Toronto. In this post we will focus on another treatment approach that is being explored.

http://www.gluckstein.com/blog/2015/06/design-of-spinal-implant-seems-to-address-issue-of-rejection.shtml

Over the years, I have seen reports from many orthepedic doctors who are favoured by insurance companies. In all of them, there is a certain consistency of casting doubt on the honesty and integrity of accident victims. These doctors simply believe that when complaints are subjective, they are plainly false or exaggerated.

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201506294779/letters-to-the-editor/doctor-s-comments-about-experts-challenged

Changes to auto insurance benefits for motor vehicle accident victims were recently passed in the Ontario legislature as part of the 2015 Ontario budget. Finance Minister Charles Sousa released the budget on Thursday, April 23, and announced that, among other changes made, combined coverage for medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits for car accident victims with catastrophic injuries would be reduced.

http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2015/06/26/ottawa-personal-injury-lawyer-opposes-cuts-auto-insurance-benefits#axzz3eBoFa2JB