Lecture #1 (Legal Considerations) Flashcards
True or false: Whether or not an AT faces legal issues depends on the patient population.
True
What is malpractice? What could it entail?
Liability generating conduct associated with the adverse outcome of patient treatment; (negligent patient care, failure to obtain informed consent, breach of contract, use of defective product, or abnormally dangerous treatment)
What is a “breach of contract”?
An unexcused failure to perform the services specificied in the contract (either formal or informal)
What is omission?
Failure to do something that you’re supposed to do…so a failure to act when there is a legal duty to do so.
What is tort?
A legal wrong (other than breach of contract) for which a remedy will be provided (usually in the form of monetary damages)
True or false: The only malpractice scenario that would be considered tort is a breach of contract.
False. All cases of malpractice are considered tort EXCEPT breach of contract
What are the two types of cases included in tort law?
Criminal and civil
What is a criminal case?
These are initiated by the government and can result in jail time or other penalities
What is a civil case?
These are initiated by the plaintiff(s) and typically just end in money exchange
What are the three kinds of tort?
Intentional, negligent, and liability
What is the most common type of tort?
Negligence
What is negligence?
A type of tort in which an AT fails to act as a reasonably prudent athletic trainer would act under the circumstances (misfeasance)
What is also know as nonfeasance?
Omission
What is negligence based on?
Omission and commission
What is commission? What is it otherwise known as?
An action that violates a legal duty; malfeasance
In order to show negligence, the accuser must do what?
SUBSTANTIATE (not prove) that there was an existance of duty, a breach of duty, conduct by the AT, causation, and damage done
True or false: Even non-actions can render the AT negligent.
False…negligence requries an action by the AT or a failure in order to take action
What is duty?
This principle stems from the contract in which the AT is working under (can change from one setting to another). These are often found in the job description or in the employment contract)
What is abandonment?
The desertion of a patient-AT relationship by the AT without the patient’s consent
What is standard of care?
The legal duty to provide health care services consistent with what other HCPs of the came training, education, and credentialing would provide under the circumstances
What is causation?
Once a breach of duty has been demonstrated, the plaintiff must be able to show that the breach actually was a legal cause of the injury or worsening of the injury