Chapter 1 - Nguyen

Question 1

Legislative branch

Answer 1

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and any similar state legislature that develops statutory law

Question 2

Executive branch

Answer 2

President of the U.S. or the governor of an individual state. Can:

• propose laws
• veto laws proposed by the legislature
• enforce laws
• establish agencies

Question 3

Administrative law

Answer 3

Establishes laws between citizens and government agencies and provides certain power to these agencies to enforce these laws and regulations

Question 4

Statutes

Answer 4

Written laws enacted by the state or federal legislative branch

Question 5

Judicial branch

Answer 5

• Federal constitutional court system
• One of the three parts of the U.S. federal government
• Interprets legislation and determines its constitutionality and applies it to specific cases
• May overrule cases presented on appeal from lower courts

Question 6

Common law/case law

Answer 6

Law of precedents built on a case-by-case basis and established by citing interpretation of existing laws by judges in previous suits. Also known as “judge made law.”

Question 7

Stare decisis

Answer 7

Latin: “to stand by the things decided”

• to adhere to a decided case
• condition in which, once a court rules, that decision becomes law for other cases
• also known as precedent

Question 8

Law

Answer 8

The foundation of statutes, rules and regulations that governs people, relationships, behaviors and interactions with the state, society and federal government

Question 9

Medical law

Answer 9

Laws that are prescribed to pertain specifically to the medical field

Dictates both the responsibilities of the healthcare provider and the rights of the patient

Question 10

Medical ethics

Answer 10

Principles based on the medical profession that determine moral behavior

Question 11

Criminal law

Answer 11

State or federal government law covering violations of a written criminal code or statute

Question 12

Misdemeanor

Answer 12

Lesser crime punishable by usually modest fines or penalties established by the state or federal government and/or imprisonment of less than 1 year

Question 13

Felony

Answer 13

Serious crime punishable by relatively large fines and/or imprisonment for more than 1 year and, in extreme cases, death

(For healthcare professionals, license may be revoked)

Question 14

Assault

Answer 14

A threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person that puts the person in immediate danger of or in apprehension of such harm or contact

*If the victim has not actually been physically harmed or touched, but only threatened or an attempt was made to harm, the crime is an assault

Question 15

Battery

Answer 15

Bodily harm or unlawful touching of another

*In the medical field, treating the patient without consent is considered battery

Question 16

Civil lawsuit

Answer 16

A noncriminal lawsuit for damages, usually based in tort, contract, labor or privacy issues

Question 17

Tort

Answer 17

A wrongful act, not including a breach of contract or trust, that results in injury to another’s person, property, reputation, or the like, and for which the injured party is entitled to compensation

(Private and civil wrong)

Question 18

Negligence

Answer 18

The failure to use such care as a reasonably prudent and careful person would use under similar circumstances

Does not require a specific intent to harm someone and is not a deliberate action

4 Basic Elements:

• Duty
• Dereliction of Duty (breach)
• Direct Cause
• Damages

Question 19

Malpractice

Answer 19

The failure of a professional to meet the standard of conduct that a reasonable and prudent member of the profession would exercise in similar circumstances; it results in harm

It is an act of negligence and describes an improper or illegal professional activity or treatment

Requires proof of a breach of a standard of care, and the breach must cause damage or harm

Question 20

Standard of care

Answer 20

The average knowledge and expertise that one can expect from a healthcare professional in the same area or field and with the same base of training

Question 21

Jurisdiction

Answer 21

Authority given by law to a court to try cases and rule on legal matters within a geographical area and/or over certain types of legal cases

Can be in personam or in rem

Question 22

In personam jurisdiction

Answer 22

Latin: “against the person”

A court’s power to adjudicate cases filed against a specific individual

Question 23

In rem jurisdiction

Answer 23

Latin: “power about or against the thing”

A term that delineates the court’s jurisdiction over property or things, including marriage, rather than over persons

Question 24

Statute of limitations

Answer 24

Defense against a tort action; requires that a claim be filed within a specific amount of time of discovering that a wrong has been committed

*vary by state and the type of offense

Question 25

Plaintiff

Answer 25

The person or entity bringing a suit or claim

Question 26

Defendant

Answer 26

Person or entity sued

Question 27

Res ipsa loquitor

Answer 27

Latin: “the thing speaks for itself”

Legal doctrine that there is clear proof that the defendant had the responsibility (duty) to the patient and the injury would not and could not have occurred without the negligence of the defendant

(One is presumed to be negligent if they had exclusive control of whatever caused the injury)

Question 28

Discovery

Answer 28

Process of gathering information in preparation for a trial

Strategies:

1) interrogatories
2) requests for productions of documents
3) admissions of fact

Question 29

Interrogatory

Answer 29

Pretrial set of written questions that must be answered in writing under oath and returned within a given time frame