Chapter 5

Question 1

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Answer 1

Settlement of civil disputes between parties using neutral mediators or arbitrators without going to court

Question 2

Consent

Answer 2

Permission from a person, either expressed or implied, for something to be done by another.

Question 3

Damages

Answer 3

Court-ordered monetary awards to patients, given as a result of legally recognized injuries to patients.

Question 4

Deposition

Answer 4

Sworn testimony given and recorded outside the courtroom during the pretrial phase of a case.

Question 5

Doctrine of Informed Consent

Answer 5

The legal basis for informed consent usually outlined in a state’s medical practice acts.

Question 6

Duty of Care

Answer 6

The legal obligation of healthcare workers to patients and, sometimes, nonpatients.

Question 7

Good Samaritan Acts

Answer 7

State laws protecting physicians and sometimes other healthcare practitioners and laypersons from charges of negligence or abandonments if they stop to help the victim of an accident or other emergency.

Question 8

Interrogatory

Answer 8

A written set of questions requiring written answers from a plaintiff or defendant under oath.

Question 9

Law of Agency

Answer 9

The law that governs the relationship between a principal and his or her agent.

Question 10

Liable

Answer 10

Legally responsible or obligated

Question 11

Malfeasance

Answer 11

The performance of a totally wrongful and unlawful act.

Question 12

Nonfeasance

Answer 12

The failure to act when one should.

Question 13

Reasonable Person Standard

Answer 13

That standard of behavior that judges a person’s actions in a situation according to what a reasonable person would or would not do under similar circumstances.

Question 14

res ipsa loquitur

Answer 14

“The thing speaks for itself”; also known as the doctrine of common knowledge. A situation that is so obviously negligent taht no expert witnesses need to be called.

Question 15

respondeat superior

Answer 15

Literally, “Let the master answer.” A doctrine under which an employer is legally liable for the acts of his or her employees, if such acts were performed within the scope of the employee’s duties.

Question 16

Standard of Care

Answer 16

The level of performance expected of a healthcare practitioner in carrying out his or her professional duties.

Question 17

Subpoena

Answer 17

A legal document requiring the recipient to appear as a witness in court or to give a deposition.

Question 18

subpoena duces tecum

Answer 18

A legal document requiring the recipient to bring certain written records to court to be used as evidence in a lawsuit.

Question 19

Summons

Answer 19

A written notification issued by the clerk of the court and delivered with a copy of the complaint to the defendent in a lawsuit, directing him or her to respond to the charges brought in a court of law.

Question 20

Testimony

Answer 20

Statement sworn to under oath by witnesses testifying in court and giving depositions.

Question 21

Wrongful Death Statutes

Answer 21

State statutes taht allow a person’s beneficiaries to collect for loss to the estate of the deceased for future earnings when a death is judged to have been due to negligence.