Health Sciences 3101A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Adversarial System, Catastrophic Injury, Health Professional

• School: Western University
• Department: Health Sciences
• Course: Health Sciences 3101A/B
• Professor: Robert Solomon

Document Summary

Part 1: the legal meaning of the term negligence. Two meanings of negligence: broad meaning a branch of tort law (made up of 6 elements, narrow meaning if the defendant"s conduct has breached of the standard of care. Negligence liability applies to the full range of professional conduct: hcp can be held accountable in negligence for acts arising from any aspect of their professional responsibilities. Courts recognize hcp cannot guarantee the outcome of the services they provide. Not liable in negligence because the patient dies, the operation fails or the decision was wrong: nor are hcp held to have breached the standard of care because their decision in hindsight proved to be wrong. Negligence v. errors in judgment: not whether a decision proved to be wrong in hindsight, but rather whether the decision was reasonable in light of all the circumstances of the case, mustafic v. smith (g).