Ringside Physicians Argue Tim Hague’s “Training Partners, Trainers and Coaches” Responsible For His Death

In the ongoing wrongful death suit filed by Tim Hague’s family the finger pointing continues.

By way of background Hague died after sustaining significant brain trauma in a boxing bout overseen by the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission (the “ESCS”). Hague’s family named numerous parties in a wrongful death lawsuit including the City of Edmonton, the ECSC, Pat Reid who was the Executive Director of the ECSC at the time, David Aitken who allegedly was responsible for Reid’s hiring, Len Koivisto who was the referee for the bout along with two ringside physicians and the promoter of the event.

Edmonton filed a Third Party Notice arguing that if they are responsible for Hague’s death then his training partners, trainers, and coaches should bear responsibility. The Ringside Physicians named in the lawsuit now make similar allegations.

In a Third Party Notice filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta on February 20, 2020 the physician defendants argue as follows:

As I previously noted these are novel allegations which raise questions about what legal duty, if any, a fighters trainers have in allowing them to compete. Ultimately regulators and ringside physicians have certain duties to make health and safety decisions and passing blame outside that circle is not an easy task.