In Levac
v. James,1 the Court of Appeal for
Ontario considered an appeal regarding the standard of care and
causation in a class action alleging breach of applicable Infection
Prevention and Control ("IPAC") best practices causing
infection.
In the underlying class action, the plaintiffs alleged that the
defendant, Dr. James, caused the plaintiffs' infections by
failing to follow appropriate IPAC practices during epidural
injection procedures.
The plaintiff class was limited to those patients who developed
signs or symptoms clinically compatible with bacterial meningitis,
epidural abscess, or cellulitis of a bacterial origin and/or
bacteremia after receiving an epidural injection administered by
Dr. James. One of the subclasses of plaintiffs was made up of
patients who were found to have been infected with a rare strain of
bacteria which was found to have also colonized Dr. James
("the Genetically Linked Patients").
