Medical Law and Ethics Flashcards
What are the two main categories of law relevant to health care professionals?
Criminal law and civil law
What is criminal law concerned with?
Violations against society based on criminal statutes or codes
What are the potential punishments for violating criminal laws?
Monetary fines, imprisonment, capital penalty (death)
What defines a misdemeanor?
Lesser crimes punishable usually by monetary fines and/or imprisonment of 1 year or less
What defines a felony?
More serious crimes punishable by larger fines and/or imprisonment for more than 1 year, possibly including the death penalty
What can lead to a felony charge for a health care professional?
Practicing without a license, falsifying information, failing to provide life support, or failing to get informed consent
What is civil law primarily concerned with?
Protecting the private rights of a person or a person’s property
What is a tort?
An action that wrongly causes harm to an individual but is not a crime
What are the two major classifications of torts?
Intentional torts and unintentional torts (negligence)
What is an intentional tort?
A deliberate act that violates the rights of another
What are examples of intentional torts?
- Assault
- Battery
- Defamation of character
- Invasion of privacy
- Administration of injection without consent
What is negligence in the context of tort law?
Failure to act in a reasonable way where a duty was owed
What are the four basic elements of negligence?
- Duty of Care
- Dereliction of Duty
- Direct Cause
- Damages
What is malpractice?
An act of negligence by a health care professional causing injury to a patient
What must be proven in a malpractice case?
A breach of a standard of care that causes damage or harm
What is a living will?
A legal document stating what medical procedures a patient would want or not want
What are some examples of decisions included in a living will?
- Analgesia
- Antibiotic treatment
- IV hydration
- Artificial feeding
- CPR
- Ventilators
- Dialysis
- Organ donation
- DNR orders
What is a durable power of attorney (DPOA) for health care?
A legal document naming a health care agent to make decisions for patients when they cannot
What is the purpose of advance directives?
To express patients’ values and desires related to end-of-life care
What is a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order?
A legal order stating a patient does not wish to undergo CPR or advanced cardiac life support
What is a POLST form?
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, detailing a patient’s end-of-life care preferences
What are some mandatory reporting duties for health care professionals?
- Births
- Deaths
- Certain communicable diseases
- Assaults or criminal acts
- Abuse, neglect, and exploitation
What types of abuse must be reported by health care professionals?
- Physical
- Verbal/emotional
- Psychological
- Sexual
- Economic
What are signs of child or elder abuse?
- Suspicious injuries
- Erratic school attendance
- Poor hygiene
- Malnutrition
- Obvious dental neglect
True or False: Advance directives expire after a certain period.
False
