Christopher Colin Crawford was on remand in the crisis support unit of the Alexander Maconochie Centre in 2011, when he experienced a seizure due a medical condition, thought to be epilepsy.

He asked for a drink while he was recovering, and prison officers found a pineapple juice carton in a communal fridge.

What they didn't know, however, was that the carton contained methadone, which another inmate had been secretly hoarding for a planned suicide attempt.

Crawford vomited after drinking two cups, before experiencing severe respiratory distress and collapsing.

Paramedics gave him narcan, an antidote to opiate overdose, and rushed him to hospital.

He deteriorated that evening, suffering three cardiac arrests and what his lawyers Ken Cush and Associates have claimed was "psychiatric injury".

Crawford later launched action in the ACT Supreme Court against the ACT Government, alleging it breached the duty of care it owed to him.

Their court case alleges prison authorities later lied to Crawford's mother about the event, telling her that her son was in hospital because he tried to end his own life.

The claim was lodged almost three years ago, but Crawford has repeatedly failed to comply with the court's directions to file expert evidence.

The delays were mainly caused by a drug expert, Dr Alex Wodak, who was supposed to have completed a written report early last year.

Crawford's solicitors repeatedly tried to extract the proper report from Dr Wodak and, despite the expert's promises, the drafts did not materialise until mid-2015.

By that stage, the ACT Government had already launched a bid to have the proceedings dismissed due to the failure to comply with the court's directions.

Since March 2014, there were six directions requiring Dr Wodak's report to be served, and a total of ten directions hearings before the court.

The government had argued they were prejudiced by the delays and non-compliance.

This week, Associate Justice David Mossop dismissed the government's attempt to have the case thrown out.

He agreed the situation was unsatisfactory, and criticised Crawford's lawyers for not identifying an appropriate expert and obtaining the report at an earlier stage.

"The approach taken in this case appears to reflect an approach to the conduct of a negligence claim reflective of the practices of a past era where a plaintiff was at liberty to meander slowly towards a forensically advantageous position at a time convenient to the plaintiff'™s solicitors," he wrote.

But Associate Justice Mossop noted government solicitors had allowed the delays to go on until April this year, and that Crawford's lawyers were never forced to spell out precisely why they were failing to meet the court's demands.

"Acquiescence in such an approach by the Court fundamentally undermines the capacity of the Court to properly manage cases and puts those parties who do comply with the procedural directions of the Court at a disadvantage compared to those who do not."

Associate Justice Mossop accepted there may be some prejudice against the defendant, but said it was unlikely to be significant.

He found it was not appropriate to dismiss the claim, finding the delay and non-compliance was mainly due to the conduct of Dr Wodak. He said the case was not obviously weak enough to favour a dismissal.

The judge did, however, restrict the plaintiff from filing any more expert reports.

"Notwithstanding that there is a temptation to permit further time for a report from Dr Wodak which has for many days, weeks and months been imminent, I am satisfied that it is necessary to draw a line in the sand."

The proceedings were also transferred to the ACT Magistrates Court.

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