Can a hospital be held liable for a blood transfusion that resulted in the patient contracting hepatitis?

Canada (Federal), Canada

The following excerpt is from Ter Neuzen v. Korn, [1995] 3 SCR 674, 1995 CanLII 72 (SCC):

98 I also find the case of St. Luke's Hospital v. Schmaltz, 534 P.2d 781 (Colo. 1975) to be persuasive. That case also involved a blood transfusion resulting in the patient contracting hepatitis. The court followed the reasoning in Perlmutter and rejected the imposition of strict liability in tort or on the basis of a warranty due to policy considerations. It was held that a realistic view of the relationship between a hospital and a patient is not that of a commercial transaction where a good is sold for a price. Rather, the patient bargains for the skill and materials of medical science in order to care for the patient's health. It is simply not realistic to view the furnishing of blood as a sale of a product.

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