Legal Considerations

Question 1

A Duty:
A duty on the part of the defendant to conform to a “specific standard of conduct” for the protection of the plaintiff against foreseeable risk of injury

Answer 1

General

Question 2

A Duty:
Established through client owner/veterinarian relationship

Answer 2

Professional

Question 3

B-reach of professional duty:

Answer 3

• Expert Witness is one of your peers
• Expert witnesses testify to the standard of care which should have been applied
• Emergency situation are judged slightly differently

Question 4

Legal duties of the veterinarian

Answer 4

Provide information on zoonotic risks of diseases

Question 5

C-ausation (related to foreseeability)

Answer 5

Causation component – links in a chain, a series of events

Question 6

D-amages:

Answer 6

• Essential element of negligence, damages are not presumed
• To the person or property
• Punitive – conduct reaches “wanton and willful” – punish the bad actor
• Plaintiff (injured person) has a duty to mitigate

Question 7

E-xistence of defenses to negligence:

Answer 7

• Contributory
• Assumption of the risk

Question 8

For professional negligence what elements must exist for the injured client to recover from the DVM and what must not be present for the DVM?

Answer 8

You have A duty, B-reach of that duty, C-ausation (link of events that lead to injury), D-amages, E-xistence of no defenses

Question 9

Responsible for the acts of those you supervise

Answer 9

Doctrine of respondeat superior