WHEN SOMETHING IS NOT QUITE RIGHT.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

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THREE TO BE is a foundation which supports children with neurological disorders and their families

Focus on education, research and therapy Brenda Agnew is Director of the Parent

Advocacy Link (PAL)

ABOUT THREE TO BE

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Neil E. SacksFounding Partner Head, Medical MalpracticeHowie, Sacks & Henry LLP

Meghan Hull JacquinAssociate Medical MalpracticeHowie, Sacks & Henry LLP

GUESTS

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Are you considering a medical malpractice lawsuit? If you need answers, just ask.

Email your questions to: Neil Sacks - nesacks@hshlawyers.com Meghan Hull Jacquin -

mhull@hshlawyers.com Call 1-877-474-5997 or 416-361-5990

SOMETHING NOT RIGHT? ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED

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If your child has been diagnosed with a neurological disorder

If your child was treated in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit)

If your child doesn’t seem to be developing or progressing in their milestones

If you just have an intuition

WHAT ARE THE RED FLAGS?

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Follow up with your family doctor and pediatrician

Try to get testings and investigations done

You may discover information which may have legal aspects you might to want to pursue.

TRY TO GET ANSWERS

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Find out what happened out around the birthing process.

Your family doctor and pediatrician will be helpful and well help you get records

Try to speak with the obstetrician and other birthing staff.

Your questions might not be answered to your satisfaction.

GATHER INFORMATION

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Two separate charts: the child’s and the mother’s

You are entitled to these records without question

They can be obtained from the hospital records department with a service fee for copying

Get copies as soon as you can

NEXT STEP: GET THE MEDICAL RECORDS

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BEFORE CONSULTING A LAWYER

Preliminary conversations

for hesitant parents

Talk to other parents

The more information you collect the better

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You have a right to the records which ensures that records are preserved

If your child has been diagnosed – Parent interest is long term Medical team interest is often short term

The quality of your child’s care will not be affected by your initial questions.

REMEMBER

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Initially involves a phone call – free of charge

Completely confidential conversation You can decide to pursue or walk away

at any point in the conversation The lawyer:

Carefully listensAsks questionsEducates on the process

SPEAKING WITH A LAWYER WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?

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A legal team that practices specifically in Medical Malpractice, i.e. birth injuries

Medical Malpractice is highly specialized area of law practiced by only a few lawyers

How to find:Word of mouthTHREE TO BE and other organizationsReferral from the general communityAsk your own lawyer to refer you.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A LAWYER

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Write a chronology in point form Note what your concerns are If you make notes as things happen it

can be emailed to a lawyer A chronology helps provide more

information

TIP: MAKE NOTES

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Send in the required records so that experienced lawyers can assess if there is or is not a case

No charge for the preliminary investigation

Experts will be asked for verbal opinions Lawyers will be in touch throughout the

process and share feedback on risks going forward

NEXT STEP: PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

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Very little; lawyers are doing the work at this stage

Focus your time and energies taking care of your child

The lawyers handle:The recordsInteraction with Experts

We will report back with the results of the investigation

WHAT’S EXPECTED FROM PARENTS ?

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It could take up to six months Could be longer if all records are harder

to track down Sometimes records aren’t immediately

forthcoming from the hospital

TIME FRAME OF THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION

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No hourly rates will be charged Contingency Fee Basis once the case is taken

on Investigation Stage – there may be out of

pocket costs for medical records and medical experts/consultants

Some lawyers will ask the family to cover the costs or part of the costs upfront

Our firm will often pay those costs, possibly recovering them later as disbursements.

WHAT WILL THIS COST?

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Serious personal injury lawyers, ranked top 5 personal injury firms in Canada

Significant component of our practice is Medical Malpractice cases

Most of which are Prenatal / Labour and Delivery / Neonatal Care

HOWIE, SACKS & HENRY LLP

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QUESTIONS?

Send us your questions...

THREE TO BE www.threetobe.orgBrenda Agnew – Brenda@threetobe.org416-664-9938

Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP www.hshlawyers.comNeil Sacks - nesacks@hshlawyers.com 416-361-5811Meghan Hull Jacquin - mhull@hshlawyers.com416-361-7561

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.