Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Informed Consent Is the process by which fully informed patients can participate in choices about Their healthcare. It originates from the legal and ethical right the patient has to direct what happens to her body and from the ethical duty of the physician to involve the patient in her health care. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. Allodynia When pain is caused by something that does not normally cause pain (such as clothing touching the skin). 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. Discovery The pre-trial process, such as a deposition, by which one party discovers the evidence that will be relied upon at trial by the opposing party. Medical negligence Failure of a physician or other medical personnel to meet the standards of conduct for duties relating to the medical profession. Those standards are based on what a reasonable person with the requisite knowledge and skills would or would not do.

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

	Did You Know?
	Gastric-Bypass surgery is an intrusive & risky surgical operation Gastric-bypass malpractice occurs when a medical professional causes harm or personal injury while performing the surgery or through a general or particular negligence. Some types of gastric bypass operations: Open Roux en Y (Rny), (Restrictive with some Malabsorption) Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y,Fobi Pouch (Restrictive with Malabsorption) , stomach staple, & more.