Is a plaintiff required to provide expert evidence to support her claim for medical negligence?

Nova Scotia, Canada


The following excerpt is from McFarlane v. MacDonald, 2015 NSSC 107 (CanLII):

It appears to be well settled in the authorities that, to establish a breach of the standard of care to support a claim for medical negligence, a plaintiff is required to lead expert evidence of a physician, practicing in the same field as the defendant, attesting to the defendant’s negligence.[see Kurdina v. Gratzer [2010] ONCA 288 at para. 2.] In Kurdina the Court of Appeal made it clear that to avoid summary judgment, the defendant is required to adduce some expert opinion evidence from a qualified practitioner in the same field as the defendant supporting her claim that the care she received fell below the applicable standard of care…

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