Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Duty of Care Once a doctor or health care professional agrees to diagnose or treat a patient, he or she has assumed a duty of care toward that patient. Causalgia Pain, usually burning, that is associated with autonomic changes -- change in color of the skin, change in temperature, change in sweating, swelling. Causalgia occurs after a nerve injury. 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. Anesthesia A large class of claims related to anesthesia has resulted from cases where the anesthesiologist or anesthetist did not take a complete medical history of angina, myocardial infarction, recent upper respiratory infection, and asthma. Spinal cord abscess Spinal cord abscess is a disorder characterized by inflammation and a collection of infected material (pus) around the spinal cord. Medical Treatment Lawsuits related to medical treatment are triggered by a number of causes, including failure to select the correct treatment or to monitor or follow up on the patient's condition. 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. Interrogatories A form of discovery in which one party submits a series of written questions to the other party, and to which the latter is bound to answer under oath. Achondroplasia Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder of bone growth that is evident at birth. It affects about one in every 25,000 births and it occurs in all races and in both sexes. Its depiction in ancient Egyptian art makes it one of the oldest recorded birth defects. 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.

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

	Did You Know?
	Sexual abuse is a form a medical malpractice Sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient is also a serious issue. Six to ten percent of psychiatrists surveyed confessed to having engaged in sexual contact with a patient and in a longitudinal study.