Category Archives: Health Law

When No Means Yes: Voluntary Withdrawal of Consent to Medical Treatment

Case considered: V.A.H. v. Lynch, 2009 ABCA 221, overturning V.A.H. v. Lynch, 2008 ABQB

PDF version: When No Means Yes: Voluntary Withdrawal of Consent to Medical Treatment

The V.A.H. case draws attention to the challenge of determining what actions on the part of a patient constitute withdrawal of consent to medical treatment, specifically in situations where the patient is receiving psychiatric treatment. In Alberta, patients can be admitted to psychiatric facilities on either a voluntary or involuntary basis. Voluntary patients are considered to have the capacity to consent to treatment and are able to discharge themselves against medical advice. Involuntary patients are admitted under the Mental Health Act (MHA), R.S.A. 1980, c. M-13 and the issue of consent is more complex. This post deals only with voluntary patients.

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Has a recent Queen’s Bench decision put the damper on future complaints of privacy breaches in Alberta, especially in the health care setting?

Case considered: Lycka v. Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) and Jane Doe, 2009 ABQB 245

PDF version: Has a recent Queen’s Bench decision put the damper on future complaints of privacy breaches in Alberta, especially in the health care setting?

A Court of Queen’s Bench decision on April 20th to quash orders of the province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner (the Commissioner) should prove to be of little, if any, persuasive value outside of Alberta. However, in this province, it may be accorded weight – even precedential value since the decision has not been appealed – that it does not deserve. As a result of Lycka v. Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) and Jane Doe, the name of a person who complains to the Commissioner of a breach of privacy must be disclosed to the party alleged to have committed the breach. Consequently, Alberta residents may be reluctant to bring forward complaints about privacy breaches, especially when physicians are on the other side.

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Assisted Human Reproduction in Canada: It’s a Gnarly World Out There

Considered: Assisted Human Reproduction Act, S.C. 2004, c.2.

PDF Version: Assisted human reproduction in Canada: it’s a gnarly world out there

When 60-year-old Ranjit Hayer of Calgary gave birth via caesarean section to twin boys at Calgary’s Foothills Hospital in early February of 2009, the news spread quickly around the world. She became one of a small but growing number of women who, subsequent to having undergone assisted human reproductive treatments, successfully give birth at ages late in the menopausal cycle, or in a handful of even more extreme examples, after menopause has ended. Indeed, in what is probably the most extreme example of a successful post-menopausal pregnancy to date, a 70-year-old woman in India is reported to have given birth in July of 2008 to twins (see here).

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