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Punitive damages
Damages awarded in addition to compensatory (economic and noneconomic) damages to punish a defendant for willful and wanton conduct.
Assumption of risk
In the law of negligence, as a defense, a defendant's allegation that the injured plaintiff recognized the danger of the plaintiff's course of action but, nonetheless, willingly chose to risk such danger.
Delirium
A disturbance of the brain function that causes confusion and changes in alertness, attention, thinking and reasoning, memory, emotions, sleeping patterns and coordination.
Informed Consent
Is the process by which fully informed patients can participate in choices about Their healthcare. It originates from the legal and ethical right the patient has to direct what happens to her body and from the ethical duty of the physician to involve the patient in her health care.
Plaintiff
The party who initiates a legal action; in a personal injury lawsuit, the person who alleges that he or she has suffered monetary damages due the negligence of another party.
Comparative negligence
The doctrine of comparing degrees of fault among the responsible parties.
Trigeminal Neuralgia
A disorder of the trigeminal nerve that causes brief attacks of severe pain in the lips, cheeks, gums, or chin on one side of the face.
Noneconomic damages
Damages payable for items other than monetary losses, such as pain and suffering. The term technically includes punitive damages, but those are typically discussed separately.
Surgical Error
Surgical errors may occur in any kind of medical procedure involving intrusive and non-intrusive surgery. Even the simplest of cosmetic surgical procedures may result in a surgical error.
Arbitration panels
Many states have formed arbitration panels in order to resolve disputes between doctors and their patients.
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