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Latest News Articles

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Professional Warned About Use of Foreign Language in Presence of Patients

A recent case provides a warning to health care professionals to be mindful of the inappropriateness of speaking in front of patients in a language that he or she may not understand. Even if what the health care professional is saying is innocent and inconsequential, the patient may not know that. Patient perception is key.

http://rosensunshine.com/professional-warned-use-foreign-language-presence-patients/

The persistence of poverty in Ontario

Total benefit income for those who depend on Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) locks nearly 895,000 Ontarians into deep poverty, according to Ontario’s Social Assistance Poverty Gap (PDF), a May 2016 report authored by Kaylie Tiessen, an economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

https://nowtoronto.com/news/the-persistence-of-poverty-in-ontario/

SAMS software snafu slowing Ottawa welfare audit followup

SAMS, the buggy software for welfare case management, might not be fully fixed until December 2017, Ottawa city councillors heard Thursday.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/sams-software-snafu-slowing-ottawa-welfare-audit-followup

Use of digital channels increasing, but technology can’t fully replace human connections during auto claims process: J.D. Power U.S. study

Millenials’ customer satisfaction with the auto insurance process in the United States, while still the lowest among all generations, is improving and carrying the rest of the industry with it, according to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study.

http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/use-digital-channels-increasing-technology-cant-fully-replace-human-connections-auto-claims-process-j-d-power-1004102544/

WSIB’s ‘devastating’ compensation policy all about board’s bottom line, lawyers charge

Toronto lawyer Richard Fink launched a multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit in 2014 against WSIB on behalf of injured workers who had their benefits cut due to pre-existing conditions.
An Ontario judge dismissed the case in July 2015, but Fink appealed. The case was heard Sept. 16 and he and his clients await the decision.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/wsib-injured-worker-benefits-1.3803300

Auto insurance rates up again

According to a recent report from the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), rates went up by an average of 1.5 per cent in the third quarter, which follows an average increase of 0.33 per cent the quarter before.

http://oshawaexpress.ca/auto-insurance-rates-up-again/?platform=hootsuite

Hundreds of pedestrian, cyclist deaths were preventable, road safety group says

The high number of road deaths on Toronto streets this year has prompted a group of grieving relatives to start up a campaign that will aim to improve traffic safety.

The advocacy group, called Friends and Families for Safe Streets (FFSS), announced their initiative Tuesday morning at outside city hall while telling reporters stories of how their loved ones have died.

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/hundreds-of-pedestrian-cyclist-deaths-were-preventable-road-safety-group-says-1.3131139

Adjudicators Still Grappling with Rating System

In Allen and Security National, Appeal P15-00018 (which is available for review here) Director’s Delegate Lawrence Blackman answered a critical question arising in the complicated world of catastrophic impairment calculations when determining whether a claimant has suffered a whole person impairment of 55% or more:  How do you rate overlapping impairments?

http://lernerspersonalinjury.ca/blogs/adjudicators-still-grappling-rating-system/

Judge Denies Defence Counsel’s late Request to cross-examine Witnesses and introduce Video Evidence

Jacqueline Vickers was struck from behind by the side mirror of a car that was attempting to overtake her, while she was riding her bicycle at the side of a road. Ms. Vickers asserted that as a result of the impact, she fell and struck her head, and was later diagnosed with a compression fracture of her T-11 vertebra.  In Vickers v. Palacious, she sued the defendant driver, Ferrando Palacious, alleging that her injury precluded her from pursuing her career as a pastry chef and she is debilitated by chronic pain.

http://www.personalinjurylawyerservice.ca/blog/judge-denies-defendents-request-to-cross-examine-witnesses-and-introduce-video-evidence

“Sorry, We Don’t Cover That” – Exclusion Clauses in Long Term Disability Policies

“Sorry, you’re not covered”. “Wait. How come?” “If you look at your policy, there is a list of exclusion clauses and unfortunately, you fell into one of the categories”. “Exclusion what?”

http://www.hshlawyers.com/articles/sorry-we-dont-cover-that-exclusion-clauses-in-ltd-policies/