Reddoch v. Medical Council (Yukon), 2001 YKCA 13

• Judge: Southin, Ryan and Braidwood, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Yukon Territory)
• Case Date: December 11, 2001
• Jurisdiction: Yukon
• Citations: 2001 YKCA 13;(2001), 161 B.C.A.C. 131 (YukCA)

Reddoch v. Medical Council (2001), 161 B.C.A.C. 131 (YukCA);

    263 W.A.C. 131

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2001] B.C.A.C. TBEd. DE.035

Allon Reddoch (appellant/appellant) v. The Yukon Medical Council (respondent/respondent)

(YU00418; 2001 YKCA 13)

Indexed As: Reddoch v. Medical Council (Yukon)

Yukon Court of Appeal

Whitehorse

Southin, Ryan and Braidwood, JJ.A.

December 11, 2001.

Summary:

A family physician was found guilty of unprofessional conduct by the Yukon Medi­cal Council, respecting his care and treat­ment of a 16 year old patient who died of botulism. He appealed.

The Yukon Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. The physician appealed.

The Yukon Court of Appeal allowed the appeal.

Medicine - Topic 2024

Discipline for professional misconduct - Conduct unbecoming a member - What constitutes - A 16 year old patient was admitted to hospital on a weekend by an on-call doctor - Her family physician assumed her care upon his return on Mon­day - The patient died some days later from botulism - The Yukon Court of Appeal held that her family physician's failure to exercise reasonable skill in the management of this patient, whom neither he nor three other doctors perceived to be gravely ill, did not constitute "unpro­fessional conduct" within the Medical Pro­fession Act (Yukon) - The court held that when the issue was one of a failure of reasonable care, to constitute unpro­fes­sional conduct, some quality of blatancy was required, some cavalier disregard for the patient and the patient's well-being - See paragraphs 56 to 61.

Medicine - Topic 2082

Discipline for professional misconduct - Statutory appeals - Scope of - The Yukon Court of Appeal discussed the scope of an appeal from the disciplinary findings of a Medical Council - See paragraphs 44 to 49.

Cases Noticed:

Faryna v. Chorny, [1952] 2 D.L.R. 354 (B.C.C.A.), refd to. [para. 28].

R. v. Araujo (A.) et al., [2000] 2 S.C.R. 992; 262 N.R. 346; 143 B.C.A.C. 257; 235 W.A.C. 257, refd to. [para. 42].

Director of Investigation and Research, Competition Act v. Southam Inc. et al., [1997] 1 S.C.R. 748; 209 N.R. 20, refd to. [para. 45].

Pushpanathan v. Canada (Minister of Citi­zenship and Immigration), [1998] 1 S.C.R. 982, addendum [1998] 1 S.C.R. 1222; 226 N.R. 201, refd to. [para. 45].

Pearlman v. Manitoba Law Society Judi­cial Committee, [1991] 2 S.C.R. 869; 130 N.R. 121; 75 Man.R.(2d) 81; 6 W.A.C. 81, refd to. [para. 45].

Jory v. College of Physicians and Surgeons (B.C.), [1985] B.C.J. No. 320 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 45].

A.B. v. College of Physicians and Sur­geons (B.C.) (1994), 43 B.C.A.C. 173; 69 W.A.C. 173 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 48].

de la Giroday et al. v. Brough (1997), 92 B.C.A.C. 81; 150 W.A.C. 81; 33 B.C.L.R.(3d) 171 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 58].

Authors and Works Noticed:

American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, Bulletin on botulism, http://www.cdc.gov/-ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/botulism_g.htm, generally [para. 9].

Journal of the American Medical Associ­ation, Article on botulism (February 28, 2001), vol. 285, No. 8, p. 1065 [para. 9].

Counsel:

Stephen R. Schachter and Kevin D. Loo, for the appellant;

David Martin, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on November 15, 2001, at Vancouver, British Columbia, before Southin, Ryan and Braidwood, JJ.A., of the Yukon Court of Appeal.

The decision of the Court of Appeal was delivered by Southin, J.A., on December 11, 2001.