What is the test for admitting a plaintiff’s statements in a clinical record?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Smith v. Wirachowsky, 2009 BCSC 1434 (CanLII):

It was common ground that the clinical records qualified as “business records” within s. 42 of the Evidence Act. It was also agreed that the plaintiff’s statements in the clinical records, if admitted, could not be used to prove the truth of their contents or to bolster the credibility of the plaintiff’s trial testimony. As I understood plaintiff’s counsel, it was suggested that the fact of the making of the statements was relevant to provide “context,” to show why certain treatment was prescribed and to show that the plaintiff continued to visit her doctors and therapists and to complain of pain, even after telling them that she had improved or was feeling better. Counsel cited Seaman v. Crook 2003 BCSC 464 (CanLII), a decision of Metzger J. (at paragraph 14), in support of the admission of the plaintiff’s recorded statements.

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