Visual Evidence looks at the ways design and data visualization can create or solve real-world problems, from making weather warnings easier to read to finding meaning on the bottom of our shoes. This week, we’ll transform some data on an everyday — some might even say, pedestrian – topic into a more visual and interactive form.
A local report is showing “a massive increase” in food bank usage in Grey-Bruce.
The United Way of Bruce Grey and Food Security Action Group of the Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force have released their 2015 Hunger Report, which is showing a 92 per cent increase in the number of food bank visits in the region over the past two years.
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.
People living in poverty are more likely to place a high burden on the health-care system but addressing the inequity could prevent both medical complications and health expenditures, Canadian doctors and public health experts say.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/
To find out, Dr. Rifat Atun, a professor of global health systems at Harvard Chan School in Boston, and his team analyzed the link between unemployment, public health-care spending, and cancer mortality using data from 1990-2010 from more than 70 high- and middle-income countries around the world, representing roughly two billion people.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/
The Applicant takes much issue with the way Dr. Moddel’s Neurological Assessment findings were incorporated – or more accurately not incorporated – into the Insurer’s multidisciplinary assessment culminating into the Executive Summary, despite that Dr. Moddel was part of that multidisciplinary team. Dr. Moddel opines on page 5 of his report that the Applicant suffered a closed head injury, and that, “I find this woman has a significant dementia and is now quite incapacitated following a motor vehicle accident.” In answers to the specific referral questions, he is clear that the diagnosis is related to the accident, and according to my reading, appears to dispute that the Applicant’s condition – e.g. her cognitive decline – is an aggravation of a pre-existing condition. The Applicant focuses, in particular, on Dr. Moddel’s finding that:
From a neurological point of view, Ms. Danzig suffered a severe cognitive impairment secondary to the motor vehicle accident. Please refer to the executive summary for the whole person impairment rating. (Emphasis added)
Dr. Derry testified that Mrs. Galloway’s assessment lasted one hour, and that during this hour, a series of five tests was administered in another room. He personally would have spent about half an hour with her. His own notes were typed directly into his computer. When shown a report of Ms. Delise Roberts, in which the summary was identical to the words in his own report, he stated, “I read the documents that were of particular relevance. They are not my words, they are hers.” Also on cross-examination, it became apparent that Dr. Derry had not seen many of the documents of Mrs. Galloway’s file. His own report listed 72 documents, while Dr. Waisman’s report listed 364 reviewed documents. He did not have Dr. Morrison’s notes, although he did speak with her. In that conversation, they did not discuss the details of Mrs. Galloway’s therapy – “I asked her about the focus of treatment and she told me, talk about pain and how she is coping. I didn’t ask for details; it was important to know she is getting the treatment to address [her problems].” The tests administered at this assessment did not address PTSD.
[79] In Price, at para. 19, Sharpe J.A. further elucidated the court’s role:
Public confidence in the administration of justice requires the court to intervene where necessary to protect the client’s right to a fair procedure for the assessment of a solicitor’s bill. As a general matter, if a client objects to a solicitor’s account, the solicitor should facilitate the assessment process, rather than frustrating the process…. In my view, the courts should interpret legislation and procedural rules relating to the assessment of solicitors’ accounts in a similar spirit. As Orkin argues, “if the courts permit lawyers to avoid the scrutiny of their accounts for fairness and reasonableness, the administration of justice will be brought into disrepute.” The court has an inherent jurisdiction to control the conduct of solicitors and its own procedures. This inherent jurisdiction may be applied to ensure that a client’s request for an assessment is dealt with fairly and equitably despite procedural gaps or irregularities. [Citations omitted.]
“There has been a lot of work done in Ontario by the government and auto insurance companies to improve products, value customers more, and reduce premiums. Consumers say they appreciate the changes, but are savvy enough to know that there is much work to be done … auto insurance prices in the province still need to fall substantially.”