APPENDIX C
GLOSSARY
NOTE: The symbol
denotes a term occurring in MD0066, Health Care Ethics I.
A
actionable negligence: negligence for which legal responsibility (liability) can
be assessed (para 4-1 a).
actor (defendant): the party against whom damages are sought for injury in a
tort suit (para 4-2a).
assault: a threatening approach that puts a person in fear of battery,
unauthorized touching (para 4-3b(1)).
attitude: a grouping of beliefs around a specific object or situation; how one feels
about something (para 2-2d).
B
battery: intentional touching of another person without authorization (para 4-3b(2)).
belief: the conviction that something is true (para 2-2c).
beneficence: the concept that the role of the health care provider is to care for the
patient, to do good (para 1-13g, anecdote).
biomedical ethics: a philosophical study of what is right and wrong in the modern
biological sciences, medicine, health care, and medical research (para 1-5a).
brain death: the irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or of
all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem (para 2-9d).
breach of duty: failure to provide a specific duty that is owed to the patient (para
4-7b).
C
claimant (plaintiff): the alleged injured party who seeks damages in a
tort suit (para 4-2a).
clinical ethics: a type of ethics that involves identification, analysis, and
resolution of moral problems encountered at the bedside (para 1-5a).
common law: a body of laws originating from Federal, state, and local
court decisions (para 3-5a).
compensatory damages: payment designed to make the injured party
"whole" to the extent that money can do so (para 4-2b).
MD0067
C-1