Medical Malpractice Flashcards

In a medical malpractice case, the 'standard of care' refers to what?

Answer: The level of care a reasonably competent healthcare provider in the same specialty would provide under similar circumstances

The standard of care is what a reasonably competent provider in the same specialty would do under similar circumstances, not the absolute best possible care.

To establish a medical malpractice claim, a plaintiff must prove all of the following EXCEPT:

Answer: The defendant intended to harm the plaintiff

Medical malpractice is a negligence-based claim; intent to harm is not an element — only that the provider breached the standard of care and that breach caused damages.

The doctrine of 'res ipsa loquitur' is most applicable in medical malpractice when:

Answer: The injury is of a type that would not ordinarily occur without negligence, such as a surgical instrument left inside a patient

Res ipsa loquitur applies when the nature of the injury — such as a retained foreign object — makes negligence self-evident without requiring detailed expert proof of what went wrong.

In most U.S. jurisdictions, medical malpractice plaintiffs are required to present expert testimony primarily to:

Answer: Establish the standard of care and demonstrate how the defendant deviated from it

Expert testimony is required because jurors lack medical expertise; the expert must explain what the applicable standard of care was and how the defendant's conduct fell below it.

The 'discovery rule' in medical malpractice statutes of limitations provides that:

Answer: The statute of limitations begins to run when the plaintiff discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury and its cause

The discovery rule tolls the statute of limitations until the plaintiff discovers — or should have discovered — both the injury and that it may have been caused by negligence.

A physician's failure to obtain 'informed consent' before a procedure may support a malpractice claim because:

Answer: Patients must be told of material risks so they can make an autonomous decision, and failure to disclose a material risk can be actionable

Informed consent requires disclosure of material risks, benefits, and alternatives; failure to disclose a risk that a reasonable patient would consider significant when deciding whether to proceed can support a malpractice claim.

In a medical malpractice case, 'special damages' (economic damages) typically include:

Answer: Past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and rehabilitation costs

Special damages are quantifiable economic losses — medical bills, future care costs, and lost income — as opposed to non-economic damages such as pain and suffering.