Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Punitive damages Damages awarded in addition to compensatory (economic and noneconomic) damages to punish a defendant for willful and wanton conduct. 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. Fibromyalgia A pain disorder in which a person feels widespread pain and stiffness in the muscles, fatigue, and other symptoms. 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. 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. 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. Miscarriage When circumstances cause the mother's body to react to a problem in the pregnancy. This may cause bleeding, cramping, and will ultimately cause the loss of the pregnancy. 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. 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. Acute Pain Pain that has a known cause and occurs for a limited time. Acute pain usually responds to treatment with analgesic medications and treatment of the cause of the pain.

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

	Did You Know?
	Errors in hospital Emergency Rooms are a common occurrence They are infrequently talked about and rarely reported to the media. That is why you don't hear about these types of cases on the news. Understaffed hospitals or ill-equipped emergency rooms may lead to fatal errors while dealing with patients requiring emergency treatment. When the necessary steps of treating an emergency room patient are sidestepped, then an emergency error may result.