deals with the relationships of private parties and the government.

is concerned with the recognition and enforcement of the rights and duties of private individuals and organizations.

deals with acts or offenses against the welfare or safety of the public.

consists of the countless regulations set by government agencies.

- is the state

the person prosecuted

protects private citizens and organizations from others who might seek to take unfair and unlawful advantage of them.

the individual bringing the complaint

the individual accused of wrong

usually in the form of juries, decide between the two parties with regard to the degree of wrong and the level of awards required.

is a civil wrong, other than a breach of contract, committed against an individual or property, for which a court provides a remedy in the form of an action for damages.

always involves a willful act that violates another person’s interest.

does not have to involve any action at all. Instead, a negligent tort can consist of an omission of an action or a failure to carry out a professional duty.

Negligence is the failure to perform one’s duties competently. negligent tortnegligent tortnegligent tortnegligent tort

is concerned with the compensation of an individual for loss or damages arising from the unreasonable behavior of another.

is different because the duty is defined by other professionals and, for that reason, requires expert testimony to establish.

In negligence cases the breach of duty often involves

is sometimes invoked to show that the harm would not ordinarily have happened if the individuals in control had used appropriate care.

revolves around whether the acts of negligence were the cause in fact and the legal cause of the damages.

in fact means simply that the negligent act of the caregiver caused the damages.

usually turns on foreseeability and whether it is fair to impose damages on a defendant.

usually is a question for the injury.

is based on foreseeability. It tends to be a retrospective analysis.

is often difficult to prove. In a situation in which the leads were reversed in a patient receiving a dual-chamber pacemaker, the heart, on autopsy, showed focal areas of inflammation.

that the most likely cause of death was not the failure to place the pacemaker leads in the correct position, but rather, a particularly virulent virus (never identified) that caused rhythm disturbances and death.

another factor in negligence lawsuits.

are awarded for economic loss. For example, a working wife and mother killed in a vehicular accident leaves a family without a caregiver for the children and without the $45,000 a year salary she earned. Her economic damages include both the salary figure (adjusted for inflation and wage increases over her work life) and the cost of replacing the home care she rendered to her family.

include pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, and loss of the enjoyment of life. Although economic damages can be guided by hard numbers, juries are often left to decide the value of a person’s pain or suffering. Through tort reform laws, many states have limited the amounts that can be awarded for these elements of damage, but in some states those caps have been overturned.

are damages that are awarded to punish wrongful conduct and discourage future unlawful conduct.

as a form of negligence, can involve professional misconduct, unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in professional duties, evil practice, or unethical conduct.

includes crimes such as assault and battery or euthanasia (handled in criminal court).

includes negligence or practice below a reasonable standard (handled in civil court).

includes violations of professional ethics and may result in censure or disciplinary actions by licensure boards.

- is a wrong perpetrated by someone who intends to do the act and, possibly, intends to do the harm.

must be intentionally performedto produce the harm or must be performed with the belief that a harmful result was likely to follow.

is the verbal defamation of an individual by false words by which his or her reputation is damaged.

printed defamation by written words, cartoons, and such representations to cause the individual to be avoided or to be criticized.

do not exist unless they are seen or heard by a third person.

are subject to short statutes of limitation and are generally disfavored in the law.

is an intentional act that places another person in fear of immediate bodily harm.

represents unallowed, nonconsensual physical contact with another person.

- When a practitioner performs a procedure without the patient’s consent, this contact may be considered battery. In most instances, there is an implied consent, created when the patient seeks care from the physician.

that only clinicians who engage in intentional conduct are liable.

- If the patient consented to the action, knowing the risks involved, the practitioner would not be liable.

is a theory in tort law that can be used to impose liability without fault, even in situations in which injury occurs under conditions of reasonable care.

is a more unusual legal claim than is negligence.

can be brought for many reasons, such as to challenge a law or to prevent an activity.

would base the secondary charges against the nurses and allied health practitioners on the theory that they missed an opportunity to correct the first wrongdoer’s mistake.

is always based on a contract between an insurance company (insurer) and the person they insure (insured).

are the product of negotiation between the person or entity insured and the insurer.

before an arterial blood gas measurement shows attention to detail and documents that the patient’s circulation was assessed.

should be sought out, identified, and mitigated where possible

involves an objective look at the organizations practices and methods from the standpoint of both prior litigation at that facility, as well as other litigation at other facilities

- is best done by persons who do not have a vested interest in either the organization or its constituent

is another way to accomplish risk reduction.

in addition to teaching new methods and procedures, should also routinely address documentation standards and how to manage the risks associated

which required, among other things, the establishment of Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information.

applies to all healthcare providers, health plan providers (with some exceptions, such as small employer plans with fewer than 50 participants administered solely by the employer), and healthcare clearinghouses.

includes information in any format, which may include patient charts (electronic or paper), faxes, e-mails, or other records.

specifies proper methods for the normal and appropriate conduct of healthcare treatment and business for all “covered entities,” individuals, and organizations that have a legitimate need to access and use the information.