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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.
Arbitration panels
Many states have formed arbitration panels in order to resolve disputes between doctors and their patients.
Collateral source rule
Under this rule, compensation awarded to an injured party shall not be reduced by the amount of compensation available to him from his insurance company or other independent sources.
Discovery
The pre-trial process, such as a deposition, by which one party discovers the evidence that will be relied upon at trial by the opposing party.
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.
Punitive damages
Damages awarded in addition to compensatory (economic and noneconomic) damages to punish a defendant for willful and wanton conduct.
Negligence
Failure to exercise that degree of care that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances. When that failure causes another person to suffer an injury or financial loss, that person may be entitled to just compensation through our civil justice system.
Anesthesia
A large class of claims related to anesthesia has resulted from cases where the anesthesiologist or anesthetist did not take a complete medical history of angina, myocardial infarction, recent upper respiratory infection, and asthma.
Economic damages
Funds to compensate a plaintiff for the monetary costs of an injury, such as medical bills or loss of income.
Interrogatories
A form of discovery in which one party submits a series of written questions to the other party, and to which the latter is bound to answer under oath.
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