The high cost of OB/GYN mistakes in Ontario

When OB/GYNs commit medical mistakes, negligence and malpractice, the stakes are uniquely high. The results can be catastrophic, heartbreaking — and often remain secret. A Star/Ryerson investigation.

 

 

Richard Lautens / Toronto Star 

“I personally direct more of my anger, blame and bitterness toward the system than I do the individual physician,” says Laura MacGregor, whose son Matthew suffered catastrophic brain injuries during birth. 

“There may be more lawsuits in other specialties for smaller amounts, but in obstetrics there are higher (settlements),” he says. “Surviving is significantly more expensive than dying.”

Obstetrics is considered the highest-risk branch of medicine, according to medical insurance figures paid by most physicians in Canada.

The national legal insurance fund for doctors, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), will charge individual obstetricians (with or without a gynecological practice) $72,456 in premiums in 2016 — an amount far beyond any other specialty. More than 80 per cent of that is subsidized by taxpayers, a recent Star investigation reported.

This year, the CMPA singled out obstetrics — the care of patients during pregnancy and childbirth — as the only medical specialty to receive its own specific education program aimed at improving patient care and reducing costs of litigation and settlements.

“In a baby case, the compensation takes into account an entire lifetime,” says Bell. “In other specialties, we are normally dealing with adults who generally are not neurologically compromised thus requiring less intense care, and the life span is usually considerably shorter.”