Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Allodynia When pain is caused by something that does not normally cause pain (such as clothing touching the skin). Arbitration panels Many states have formed arbitration panels in order to resolve disputes between doctors and their patients. 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. Causalgia Pain, usually burning, that is associated with autonomic changes -- change in color of the skin, change in temperature, change in sweating, swelling. Causalgia occurs after a nerve injury. Medical Practice Act A statute of a US state or jurisdiction that outlines the scope of practice for physicians and the responsibility of the medical board to regulate that practice. The primary responsibility and obligation of a state medical board is to protect the public through proper licensing and regulation of physicians and, in some jurisdictions, other health care professionals. Brain death Irreversible cessation of cerebral and brain stem function; characterized by absence of: electrical activity in the brain, blood flow to the brain, and brain function as determined by clinical assessment of responses. Spinal cord abscess Spinal cord abscess is a disorder characterized by inflammation and a collection of infected material (pus) around the spinal cord. 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. Plaintiff The party who initiates a legal action; in a personal injury lawsuit, the person who alleges that he or she has suffered monetary damages due the negligence of another party. Assumption of risk In the law of negligence, as a defense, a defendant's allegation that the injured plaintiff recognized the danger of the plaintiff's course of action but, nonetheless, willingly chose to risk such danger.

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

	Did You Know?
	You still have rights even if you signed a consent form A consent form does not give the health care provider a license to commit malpractice. While the execution of a typical consent form indicates acknowledgement of stated risks and complications associated with a given treatment or procedure, it does not relieve the health care provider from his or her duty of meeting the standard of care associated with such treatment or procedure.