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Introduction to Understanding Lawsuits

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Hi everyone.

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Today we're gonna talk about medical malpractice 1 0 1,

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the basic elements of a lawsuit.

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Uh, I think it's important as an attorney to

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have my client, uh, always understand sort of

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what the program is moving forward.

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And I go over this with my clients all the time

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because they need to understand part of this as to whether

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or not they have a lawsuit and why or why not, uh, they,

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or why they may or may not have a lawsuit.

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But it's important for you to understand as well,

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and your defense attorney is going to hopefully make sure

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that you've got this down.

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But let's get a good understanding moving forward of

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how the system works

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and what has to be proved, what, what we,

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as the plaintiff's lawyer who carry the burden of proof,

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have to prove in order to have a case that can go

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to court and be successful.

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So there are two main types of

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legal cases that you probably, you're all aware of, civil

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and criminal, and there's a difference in the standard

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of care that's required.

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And in this case, we're talking about civil lawsuits.

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So let's take a look at what the goals of this talk

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and this program are for you, um,

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in understanding the process of what's required

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or the elements of a lawsuit.

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So the, the elements are duty, breach,

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causation, and harm.

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And the other thing to understand is the burden of proof.

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What is the burden of proof?

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And who has the burden of proof?

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So in a civil lawsuit, this case is known as a tort.

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There are two main types of lawsuits

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that in general, that you're aware of.

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Obviously, civil

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and criminal, criminal carries a much

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higher burden of proof.

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And civil lawsuits are these types of cases,

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which is again known as a tort, is a lawsuit

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that carries a far lower burden of proof,

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but it's a burden that the plaintiff has.

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So a tort is a breach of a duty that gives rise

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to an action for damages.

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And in this particular case, we're focusing on allegations

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of negligence primarily against radiologists,

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but any physician.

Report

Faculty

David M Yousem, MD, MBA

Professor of Radiology, Vice Chairman and Associate Dean

Johns Hopkins University

Kelly P. Yousem, JD

Plaintiff’s Attorney

Stephen D. Brown, MD, FACR, HEC-C

Associate Professor of Radiology (Part-time)

Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Tags

Non-Clinical