Chapter 26 Key Terms: Medical Law

Question 1

Assault

Answer 1

Any willful attempt or threat to inflict injury on the person of another, when coupled with the apparent present ability to do so, and any intentional display of force such as would give the victim reason to fear or expect immediate bodily harm.

Question 2

Battery

Answer 2

Any unlawful touching of another that is without justification or excuse.

Question 3

Contract

Answer 3

An agreement between two or more persons or parties which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing.

Question 4

Defamation

Answer 4

Holding up a person to ridicule, scorn, or contempt in a respectable and considerable part of the community.

Question 5

False imprisonment

Answer 5

Conscious restraint of the freedom of a person without proper authorization, privilege, or consent.

Question 6

Fraud

Answer 6

Intentional perversion of truth for the purpose of inducing a person to rely on the false information to their detriment.

Question 7

Implied consent

Answer 7

Person’s agreement to allow something to happen which is not expressly given but rather inferred from a person’s actions or inactions.

Question 8

Informed consent

Answer 8

Person’s agreement to allow something to happen (such as surgery) that is based on a full disclosure of the facts needed to make the decision intelligently that is, knowledge of risks involved, alternatives, benefits, and other information needed by a reasonable person to make a decision.

Question 9

Negligence

Answer 9

Failure to do something that a reasonable person guided by the ordinary considerations that ordinarily regulate human affairs would do or the doing of something a reasonable and prudent person would not do.

Question 10

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Answer 10

Meaning the thing speaks for itself, legal theory requiring three elements. One- that the type of injury did not occur except for negligence, Two- that the activity was under the complete control of the defendant, and Three- that the plaintiff did not contribute to their own injury in any way.

Question 11

Respondeat Superior

Answer 11

Meaning let the superior respond or the master speaks for the servant, the physician, supervisor, or employer may be liable in certain cases for the wrongful acts of employees or subordinates.

Question 12

Standard of Care

Answer 12

Degree of skill (proficiency), knowledge, and care ordinarily possessed and employed by members in good standing within the profession.

Question 13

Tort

Answer 13

Private or civil wrong or injury, other than breach of contract, for which the court provides a remedy in the form of an action for damages.