Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Elder Abuse Is any "physical abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation, abduction or other treatment with resulting in physical harm or pain or mental suffering, or the deprivation by a care custodian of goods or services that are necessary to avoid physical harm or mental suffering 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. 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. Brain death Irreversible cessation of cerebral and brain stem function; characterized by absence of: electrical activity in the brain, blood flow to the brain, and brain function as determined by clinical assessment of responses. Cesarean Commonly referred to as "C-section". A surgical procedure in delivering the baby. Epidural (pain medicine) is given at this time, and an incision is made in the very low part of the woman's abdomen 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. Res ipsa loquitur The use of res ipsa loquitur should be prohibited in medical malpractice cases because under this doctrine the mere fact that the injury occurs means that the defendant was negligent, although it is not all the time. 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. 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. Allodynia When pain is caused by something that does not normally cause pain (such as clothing touching the skin).

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

	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.