Legal and Ethical Issues – Flashcards

is a general rule of conduct that is enforced by the government. When a law is violated, the government imposes a penalty.

laws deal with the relationships between individuals and the government. Criminal law is a segment of public law.

law is derived from judicial decisions. U.S. common law has its roots in English common-law system.

law can be amended, repealed, or expanded by the legislature. States and local jurisdictions can enact and enforce only laws that do not conflict with federal laws.

is a public law issued by administrative agencies to administer the enacted laws of the federal and state governments. This branch of law controls the administrative operations of the government.

implement and administer the administrative law. The rules and regulations established by an agency must be administered within the scope of the authority delegated to the agency by Congress.

provides that no one branch of the government-legislative, executive, or judicial- will be clearly dominant over the two.

composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both enacts laws that can amend or repeal existing legislation and creates new legislation.

resolves disputes in accordance with laws

administers and enforces the law

develops and implements administrative regulations for carrying out national health and human service policy objectives. It is the main source of regulations that affect the health care industry.

tort and contract actions

means "the thing is decided" -refers to that which has been previously acted on or decided by the courts.

common law principle "let the decision stand" provides that when a decision is rendered in a lawsuit involving a particular set of facts, another lawsuit involving an identical or substantially similar situation is to be resolved in the same manner as the first lawsuit.

The conventions of a number of the states, at the time of adopting the U.S. Constitution, expressed a desire to prevent the abuse of its powers. Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the constitution, was added to protect the rights of citizens.

is a civil wrong-not including breach of contract-that is committed against a person or property for which a court provides a correction in the form of an action for damages.

is a tort, a civil or personal wrong. It is the unintentional commission or omission of an act that a reasonably prudent person would or would not perform under given circumstances. Intentional wrongdoing involves an act that violates another person's interest.

malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance

is the execution of an unlawful or improper act

is the improper performance of an act that results in injury or another

is a failure to act when there is a duty to do so

duty to care, breach of duty, without proof of harm or injury, causation

exists when there is a legal obligation of care, performance, or observance imposed on one party to guard the rights of others

is the failure to meet a prevailing standard of care

a defendant can not be found liable

refers to the idea that the defendant's negligence must be a substantial factor in having caused an injury

is the reasonable anticipation that harm or injury will result form an act or a failure act. The test for foreseeability is whether or not one should have reasonably anticipated that event in question or similar event would occur

is the infringement on the mental security or tranquility of another person; battery is the violation of another person's physical integrity

is the unlawful restraint of an individual's personal liberty or the unlawful restraint or confinement of an individual

is a false oral or written communication to someone other than the individual defamed, subjecting that individual's reputation to scorn or ridicule.

an aspect of defamation; results from written word

an aspect of defamation; results from spoken word

a social harm defined and made punishable by law- is generally either a misdemeanor or a felony

is an offense punishable by less than 1 year in jail and/or a fine

is generally punishable by imprisonment in a state or federal prison for a period of more than 1 year

is the reckless disregard for the safety of others and is the willful indifference to an injury that could result from an act

is a written or oral agreement that involves legally binding obligations between two or more parties

allow organizations to contract with physicians and/or medical groups to provide specific services to the organization

is a legal order requiring that a person appear in court or that documents be presented to a court or administrative body

is proof that is offered via direct testimony

is offered by objects themselves

is written evidence capable of making a truthful statement

is knowing that a danger exists and voluntarily accepting the risk by exposing oneself to it, knowing that harm might occur

provides that the degree of negligence or carelessness of each party to a lawsuit must be established by the finder of fact and that each party then is responsible for his or her proportional share of any damages awarded

can be defined as nay lack of ordinary care on the part of the person injured that, combined with negligent act of another, caused the injury; person does not exercise reasonable care for his or her own safety

relieve health care professionals, and in some instances laypersons, from liability in certain emergency situations

refers to legislatively imposed time constraints that restrict the period of time after an injury occurs during which a legal actions must be commenced

refers to the common-law doctrine by which federal and state governments historically have been immune from liability for harm suffered from the tortious conduct of employees; both federal and state governments have abolished sovereign immunity

in the context of negligent act, refers to an award of money to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury resulting from a negligent act

sometimes awarded and above that which is intended to compensate the plaintiff for economic losses form the damage

violation of another's physical integrity-intentional touching

negligence of a professional person. Involves either malfeasance or misfeasance or nonfeasance

unlawful killing without malice aforethought. Voluntary-heat of passion or involuntary-negligent act

established in 1989, is charged with researching ways to improve quality of health care, reduce its costs, and broaden access to essential services

pursuant to title VI; 1964 the guidelines of HHS prohibit the practice of racial discrimination by any organization

is a principle requiring that all persons be treated equally and fairly and that no person, for example should get a disproportional share of society's resources or benefits, discuss how society's resources are distributed disproportionately

forbids Medicare-participating hospitals from dumping patients out of emergency departments

of 1989 prohibits physicians who have ownership interest or compensation arrangements with a clinical laboratory from referring Medicare patients to that laboratory

was enacted in part to provide those persons giving info to professional review bodies and those assisting in review activities limited immunity from damages that may rise as a result of adverse decisions that affect a physician's medical staff privileges

public law was designed to protect the privacy, confidentially, and security of patient info. formats include: electronic, paper, and verbal

is an agency within the executive branch of government responsible for directing executive branch policies relating to the prevention of conflicts of interest on the part of Federal executive branch officers and employees

and the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 made up the health care reform of 2010; the laws focus on reform of the private health insurance market

was enacted to ensure that patients are informed of their rights to executive advance directives and accepts or refuse medical care. Each state is required under the PSDA to provide a description of the law in the state regarding advance directives to providers, whether such directives are based on state statutes or judicial decisions

is an instance of negligent or unethical conduct on the part of an elected official. Like medical malpractice, political malpractice involves a failure to offer professional services as expected. Political malpractice usually hurts the citizens to whom the politician is accountable.

was enacted to safeguard individual privacy form the misuse of federal records, to give individual access to records concerning themselves that are maintained by federal agencies, and to establish a Privacy Protection Safety Commission

is that principle of law that holds that no one can lawfully do that which tends to be injurious to the public or against the public law

requires for example, executives of public corporations to vouch for the financial reports and encourages self-regulation

prescribes that every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states is declared to be illegal. Those who attempt to monopolize, combine, or conspire with any other person or persons to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce can be deemed guilty of felony.