LEGAL LIABILITY CONCERNS - MALPRACTICE AND MORE

What are the 4 elements of malpractice/negligence?

Duty

Breach

Cause of injury

Damages

A dentist who fails to use the degree of care, skill,and judgment which reasonable dentists would usein the same or similar circumstances, having dueregard for the state of dental science at the time oftreatment, is negligent (i.e. has committed dentalmalpractice)

Breach of Duty (standard of care)

T or F: A dentist is not negligent, however, for failing to use the highest degree of care, skill and judgment, or solely because a bad result may have followed his or her care, treatment or diagnosis

T

What must jurors rely on for what standard of care is?

The testimony of an expert witness

Jurors are instructed that they may not guess or speculate what the standard of care, skill and judgment is in in deciding the case, but must rely on what?

Expert testimony admitted during the trial.

________- ______ do not have to serve as expert witnesses, but they have to testify to their care and treatment.

treating dentists

What is Res Ipsa Loquitur?

The thing speaks for itself

What is not required with Res Ipsa Loquitur?

Expert testimony

Under Res Ipsa Loquitur, the _______ permits the jury to infer negligence

Occurence (injury)

For causation, a plantiff must prove what?

that the dentist's breach of duty was a cause of injury/damages

T or F: the standard is "a cause" not the cause

T

If a plaintiff proves at the trial a breach of duty (abreach of the standard of care) that caused aninjury, he or she is entitled to?

damages

Damages usually take the form of what three things?

lost wages, pain and suffering, past and future dental/medical expense

T or F: Attorneys fees are recoverable in dentalmalpractice cases

F they are not

Informed consent is a _____ , not just a writtenform signed by the patient.

The process requires a ____ ____ , and should also include a _____ form, ______ by the patient

process

verbal discussion - written - signed

Wis Stat 448.30: Any physician who treats a patient shall inform the patient about the availability of reasonable _____ medical modes of treatment and about the ______ and _____ of these treatments. The reasonable physician standard is the standard for _____ a patient under this section. The reasonable physician standard requires disclosure only of information that a reasonable physician in the same or a similar medical specialty would know and disclose under the circumstances

alternate - benefits and risks - informing

The physician's duty to inform the patient under (Wis. Stat. 448.30) does not require disclosure of:

-Detailed technical information that in all probability a patient would not ______ .

-_____ apparent or known to the patient

-Extremely remote possibilities that might falsely or detrimentally _____ the patient.

-Information in _____ where failure to provide treatment would be more harmful to the patient than treatment.

- Information in cases where the patient is incapable of _____.

- Information about ______ medical modes of treatment for any condition the physician has not included in his or her ______ at the time the physician informs the patient.

understand

Risks

alarm

emergencies

consenting

alternate - diagnosis

What types of damages are recoverable (4)

Dental/medical bills

Pain and sufferring

Lost wages

Loss of society and companionship

Punitive damages

T or F: insurance offsets medical bills in damages

F