Liability Protection
The CMPA describes itself as a "mutual defence" organization for doctors. When a doctor is brought before the Canadian justice system, the doctor's legal defense is funded by the CMPA, which uses its discretion on the cases it takes. The CMPA may defend a doctor sued in civil court for medical negligence causing injury, and may also defend a doctor charged in criminal court for offences ranging from financial fraud (such as over-billing), to malfeasance, sexual battery, and felony crimes.
| CMPA — National Statistics 2008 | Number |
|---|---|
| Legal actions commenced | 884 |
| Legal actions proceeding to trial → won by the patient | 13 |
| Legal actions proceeding to trial → won by the doctor | 75 |
| Legal actions settled out of court | 341 |
| Legal actions dismissed, discontinued, or abandoned | 574 |
The national statistics for negligence lawsuits shown in the table (right) are from the 2008 CMPA Annual Report. The CMPA does not distinguish between lawsuits which are dismissed, discontinued, or abandoned, but provides only an accumulated total for this category. A lawsuit may be dismissed by the courts, or a lawyer may inform a plaintiff that there is no reasonable chance of success with a lawsuit, in which case it may be abandoned or discontinued. Often, a Statement of Claim is filed years before the case is resolved, thus the number of actions commenced in a given year need not equal the sum of the resolved cases in that year.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Medical Protective Association
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