Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Obstetrics Prenatal care requires collecting, tracking and analyzing a complex series of clinical data collected over several prenatal visits. Affidavit A voluntary statement or declaration of facts that has been written down and confirmed under oath. Arbitration panels Many states have formed arbitration panels in order to resolve disputes between doctors and their patients. Medical lien The right of a hospital, doctor or health care provider to assert an interest in personal injury recoveries to the extent of the cost of the treatment or service provided. Stipulation An agreement, admission or concession made in a judicial proceeding by the parties or their attorneys, thus relieving a party of its obligation to produce evidence in support of an argument or allegation. Subrogation A process by which a third party is put in the place of a creditor so that the rights and securities of the creditor pass to that third person. Confidentiality The principle that prohibits physicians from disclosing confidential comments made to them by patients unless required to do so by law. The law may require physicians to violate patient confidentiality if the patient poses a serious threat to his or her own health and the well-being or that of others. 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. Comparative negligence The doctrine of comparing degrees of fault among the responsible parties. 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.

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

	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.