Duty or Standard of Care (Cont.) - Special and Limited Duties

Question 1

Duty of Physicians:

Good Samaritan statutes:

Answer 1

Exempt doctors and nurses for ordinary negligence, but not gross negligence.

Question 2

Duty of Physicians:
What is the standard of care?
And how must the standard of care be proven to be breached?

Answer 2

That which is accepted and practiced by the relevant medical community.
Must be proven through expert testimony

Question 3

Duty of Physicians:

What is the exceptions to the requirement to prove breach by expert testimony?

Answer 3

Gross negligence, common knowledge or res ipsa, treatises, drug instructions.

Question 4

Duty of Physicians:
What standard are specialists held to?
How must it be proved?

Answer 4

Specialists are held to a standard of those in the same specialty. Also must be proved by expert testimony

Question 5

Duty of Physicians:

What is Res Ipsa and how can it be proved?

Answer 5

Res Ipsa is that injury would not occur without negligence.
May be proved by:
1) common knowledge
2) expert testimony
There also cannot be any other causes of the injury

Question 6

Duty of Medical professionals:

Duty to disclose (Majority and minority standards)

Answer 6

Majority: only need to disclose the information that the relevant medical community would disclose - Requires expert testimony to prove
Minority: Must disclose all information material to the reasonable decision of the patient.

Question 7

Duty of nurses is held to what standard?

Answer 7

A reasonable nurse under the circumstances. Requires expert testimony to prove.

Question 8

Non-medical practitioner duty standard.

Answer 8

Reasonable practitioner under the circumstances - requires expert testimony to prove.

Question 9

Duty of Hospitals and personnel:

Vicarious Liability under Respondeat Superior:

Answer 9

Employers liable for employees torts if act that caused harm was within the scope of employment. The tortuous conduct must be a foreseeable consequence of the employees work.

Question 10

Duty of Hospitals and personnel:

What can hospitals be liable for outside of vicarious liability?

Answer 10

1) Providing and maintaining safe and adequate facilities and equipment
2) Supervising medical care
3) the selection of medical staff
4) Formulating, adopting, and enforcing adequate procedures that govern its medical staff and nonphysical personnel to ensure quality of care.

Question 11

Duty of Hospitals and personnel:

How can P’s prove negligence?

Answer 11

Using licensing or accreditation standards

Question 12

Duty of non-medical practitioners

Answer 12

Reasonable practitioner under the circumstances and must be proved using expert testimony

Question 13

Duty of Architects, engineers, accountants, and lawyers

Answer 13

Reasonable professional and requires expert testimony to prove. Unless it falls under the common knowledge exception

Question 14

Duty of educators

Answer 14

Very difficult to sue educators

Question 15

Duty of clergy

Answer 15

Can’t hold the church vicariously liable for clergy misconduct. Abuse is not within scope of employment.