*privileged (confidential) communication: communication between parties in a
confidential relationship (physician - patient, lawyer - client, clergyman-layperson,
husband - wife). The confidence is transmitted under circumstances implying it
shall forever remain a secret (para 3-10a).
professional ethics: a set of standards of professional conduct set down in
codes (para 1-5b).
professional code of ethics: a statement of role morality for a given profession,
as expressed by members of that profession, rather than external bodies such as
governmental agencies (para 1-5b).
* professional practice standard of disclosure: a standard of disclosure that
requires the physician to disclose what any reasonable health care provider would
communicate in the same or a similar circumstance (para 1-14b).
proximate cause (causation): the process of establishing the casual link
between breach of duty and injury para 4-9).
public law: a body of laws governing the relationship between private individuals
and government (or government agencies) in order to protect society as a whole
(para 3-7c).
punitive damages: compensation set at a high level in order to punish the actor
and serve as an example to deter others (para 4-2b).
Q
R
* reasonable person (materiality) standard of disclosure: See "materiality
(material risk) standard of disclosure."
reasonable person standard of duty: a measurement of the actor's conduct
against what a reasonably prudent person would have done under the same or a
similar circumstance (para 4-7a).
res ipsa loquitur: the legal doctrine in which all four elements of actionable
negligence need to not proven; literal meaning: "the thing speaks for itself"
(para 5-1a).
respondeat superior: the legal doctrine that holds the employer liable for
negligent torts committed by the employee within the scope of the employee's
duties or employment. Literal meaning is "let the master answer." (The employer
is not generally liable for the intentional torts of its employees) (para 5-3a).
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