What is the test for negligence in breast cancer cases?

Application of the principle is nicely illustrated in James v. White, [1999] B.C.J. No. 2058, 1999 CarswellBC 2002 (S.C.) in the context of an allegation of the defendant’s delay in diagnosing breast cancer. There, the defendant physician detected a lump in the plaintiff’s breast and referred her for a mammogram that came back negative. Several months later, however, the plaintiff was diagnosed with breast cancer. She claimed that the defendant physician was negligent in failing to diagnose the cancer earlier and that she should have been referred for a specialist consultation, which would have altered the course of her cancer treatment and ultimately her prognosis.