Latest news with #WayneMacKay
Global News
13-06-2025
- Health
- Global News
Legal expert says malpractice fights tough to win when Canadian hospitals get it wrong
A legal expert says suing for medical malpractice can come with a long list of challenges. The comments come after a Nova Scotia woman says she was wrongly told she had terminal breast cancer just weeks after being told she had no traces of the disease. 'It really matters whether or not somebody fell below the standards they were supposed to meet,' said Wayne MacKay from Dalhousie law school. 'You'd have to find out: how does this normally get done? What's the normal practice? What did they do in this case? Did they fall below what was a reasonable standard? And that's probably the key thing.' This week, Gabriella Patey told Global News that Halifax's IWK Health Centre made several errors when delivering her breast biopsy results. Story continues below advertisement 2:58 Nova Scotia woman demanding answers after breast cancer misdiagnosis On May 17, the hospital said her results were all clear. Then two weeks later, she was informed she had advanced-stage breast cancer — giving her about 10 months to live. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy But then just days after that, she was told the positive results were sent in error and the terminal diagnosis was meant for someone else. 'I'm still completely traumatized from the whole experience. I still feel it now. I feel like I'm outside of my body,' she said. Patey says she's receiving legal advice about the best path forward. According to MacKay, medical malpractice is a high standard to meet. He says a civil action lawsuit would rely on whether there's proof the IWK operated below professional standards when handling the test results. Story continues below advertisement 'They've admitted she got a wrong diagnosis and that's a very serious matter, but that in itself isn't enough,' he said. 'She has to show that that happened in a way that was negligent. They didn't follow all the normal procedures or they did something or somebody did something that was inappropriate.' He says the psychological impacts of a false diagnosis could carry weight in court. 'The court has now evolved to the point where they do recognize that psychological damage is a serious matter too,' he added. Patey received a verbal apology from the IWK on Tuesday. She says she was promised written confirmation of the hospital's wrongdoing by Wednesday morning, but still hadn't received it by late afternoon.
CBC
04-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Committee to discuss N.S. Power breach that allowed theft of 280,000 customers' data
Social Sharing A provincial legislative committee is scheduled to meet today to discuss the recent Nova Scotia Power cybersecurity breach that allowed cyber thieves access to data from 280,000 customers. The privately owned utility's CEO and other senior staff with Nova Scotia Power were called as witnesses to the standing committee on public accounts, which is set to meet this morning. Company CEO Peter Gregg has previously said the data of about 280,000 Nova Scotia Power customers was breached in a ransomware attack — which is more than half of their total customers. The breach of the customer records was first reported in late April, and the company later indicated the first breach was detected in mid-March. Legal expert explains why Nova Scotia Power class action unlikely 2 days ago Duration 7:04 Many Nova Scotia Power customers who recently found out their personal information was stolen in a ransomware attack have questions about the utility's legal responsibilities in the wake of the data breach. Watch Amy Smith's interview with Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus at Dalhousie's law school. Gregg said the social insurance numbers of up to 140,000 customers had been collected by the utility, and therefore could have been accessed in the breach. He said Nova Scotia Power gathered these social insurance numbers as a way to authenticate customers' identities in cases where multiple customers have the same name, but social insurance numbers aren't required from its customers and were offered voluntarily. The federal privacy commissioner has launched an investigation into a ransomware attack, with Philippe Dufresne saying in a statement last week he started the probe after receiving complaints about the security breach the utility reported in late April.
CBC
02-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Legal expert explains why Nova Scotia Power class action unlikely
Many Nova Scotia Power customers who recently found out their personal information was stolen in a ransomware attack have questions about the utility's legal responsibilities in the wake of the data breach. Watch Amy Smith's interview with Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus at Dalhousie's law school.
