Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Negligence Failure to exercise that degree of care that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances. When that failure causes another person to suffer an injury or financial loss, that person may be entitled to just compensation through our civil justice system. Tort Liability The defendant must owe a legal duty to the victim, the defendant breached that duty, the breach was the cause of an injury to the victim, there must be an injury. In most cases, there must be a physical or financial injury to the victim, but sometimes emotional distress, embarrassment, or dignitary harms are adequate for recovery. Discovery The pre-trial process, such as a deposition, by which one party discovers the evidence that will be relied upon at trial by the opposing party. Hearing loss Hearing loss is one of the most common birth defects; about 3-4 in 1,000 newborns have significant hearing impairment. Hearing loss that is present at birth is called congenital hearing loss. Hearing loss can be inherited (genetic) or can be caused by illness or injury. Spinal cord abscess Spinal cord abscess is a disorder characterized by inflammation and a collection of infected material (pus) around the spinal cord. Allodynia When pain is caused by something that does not normally cause pain (such as clothing touching the skin). Proximate Cause Proximate cause is defined legally as a cause which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any intervening event, produces injury, and without which, the injury would not have occurred. Medical Practice Act A statute of a US state or jurisdiction that outlines the scope of practice for physicians and the responsibility of the medical board to regulate that practice. The primary responsibility and obligation of a state medical board is to protect the public through proper licensing and regulation of physicians and, in some jurisdictions, other health care professionals. Punitive damages Damages awarded in addition to compensatory (economic and noneconomic) damages to punish a defendant for willful and wanton conduct. 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.

Please contact us if anyone you know has suffered from debilitating injuries due to medical malpractice in Wisconsin.

	Did You Know?
	Drug-switching practices happen and are very dangerous Another public-spirited drug giant, Merck, was forced to pay a settlement of $1.9 million to 17 states in 1995 for drug-switching practices involving its Medco subsidiary. Medco pharmacists, who had given excessively favorable treatment to Merck products, were thereafter required to reveal their Merck connection to their customers.