Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Palliative Care The total care of patients with progressive, incurable illness. In palliative care, the focus of care is on quality of life. Control of pain and other physical symptoms, and psychological, social and spiritual problems is considered most important. Terminal sedation Terminal sedation is the use of high doses of sedatives to relieve extremes of physical distress. Its purpose is to render the patient unconscious to relieve suffering until the patient dies from his or her disease processes and their complications. Statute of limitations A statute specifying the period of time after the occurrence of an injury--or, in some cases, after the discovery of the injury or of its cause--during which any suit must be filed. Arbitration A process for deciding a legal dispute out of court; a substitute for an ordinary trial. Affidavit A voluntary statement or declaration of facts that has been written down and confirmed under oath. Elder Abuse Is any "physical abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation, abduction or other treatment with resulting in physical harm or pain or mental suffering, or the deprivation by a care custodian of goods or services that are necessary to avoid physical harm or mental suffering Arbitration panels Many states have formed arbitration panels in order to resolve disputes between doctors and their patients. Surgical Error Surgical errors may occur in any kind of medical procedure involving intrusive and non-intrusive surgery. Even the simplest of cosmetic surgical procedures may result in a surgical error. 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. Stipulation An agreement, admission or concession made in a judicial proceeding by the parties or their attorneys, thus relieving a party of its obligation to produce evidence in support of an argument or allegation.

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

	Did You Know?
	Sexual abuse is a form a medical malpractice Sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient is also a serious issue. Six to ten percent of psychiatrists surveyed confessed to having engaged in sexual contact with a patient and in a longitudinal study.