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Learn about intentional torts like battery, assault, false imprisonment, and more, and the importance of consent in medical procedures and emergency response situations. Understand legal defenses, documentation procedures, and privacy laws.
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Civil Liability Issues Chapter 7
Objectives • Define • Intentional torts of battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of severe emotional distress, trespass, trespass to chattels, conversion, and misrepresentation
Objectives • Explain how consent is a defense to battery, assault, and false imprisonment. • Define implied and informed consent. • Explain that a competent adult has an absolute right to decline medical care.
Objectives • Identify factors involved in determining if a person lacks capacity to consent to, or decline, medical care. • Explain what should be done to document refusals of care against medical advice.
Objectives • Explain the difference between slander, slander per se, and libel. • Identify the four invasion-of-privacy torts.
Civil Liability • Tort • A “civil wrong” • Definition • Committed by one or more parties that cause injury to another • Law allows a remedy of monetary damages
Three Basic Types of Torts • Intentional • Negligence • Strict liability
Battery • Battery is an intentional unpermitted contact with another person • Includes a broad range of acts • Does not require hostile intent • Damages are presumed plus defendant is liable for any actual damages
Consent • Defense to a battery • Voluntary and knowingly given • Person must have capacity to consent • Critical consideration for emergency responders
Battery by Medical Personnel • Treatment provided against a person’s will • Exceeds consent granted by patient • If consent is obtained through fraud • Doctor not licensed • Medical procedure is a sham • Without informed consent
Informed Consent • Patient must be informed of what the procedure involves and possible risks • Lesser requirement in prehospital environment • Patient still must consent • Consent can be implied from lack of refusal
Implied Consent • Treatment rendered to person unable to consent • Provider must have no reason to believe treatment would be declined • Treatment necessary to save life and limb
Assault • Placing another in fear or apprehension of an imminent battery • Damages are presumed
False Imprisonment • Unlawfully restraining free movement of another against that person’s will • Does not require imprisonment • Restraint must be complete • Once proven, damages are presumed and actual damages are also allowed
False Imprisonment • Restraint • Physical barriers • Threats of force • Assertion of legal authority • Restraint need only be momentary • Person must be aware of restraint
Intentional Infliction of Severe Emotional Distress • Intentional or reckless conduct that may cause severe emotional distress to another • Must be more than simple joking or teasing • Beyond bounds of decency
Intentional Infliction of Severe Emotional Distress • Typically involves outrageous hazing or a continuous pattern of conduct directed at a person • Telephone calls, hate mail, threats • Single action will suffice
Trespass • Intentional entry onto land of another without consent • Trespasser is liable for any damages • Intentional, careless, or accidental fires
Trespass • First criterion • Someone who enters the land of another without permission • Second criterion • Someone who enters land of another after having been warned not to
Trespass Examples • Dumping rubbish on someone’s property • Flying a model airplane over someone’s house • Building a fence on a neighbor’s property
Conversion • Unauthorized taking of personal property • Allows civil recovery of damages for property that is stolen, embezzled, destroyed, or damaged severely
Misrepresentation (Fraud) • Misrepresentation or deceit • False representation of material fact • Made with intent to induce victim to rely thereon, resulting in damages
Bad Faith • New tort • Arose out of insurance contract law • Intentional failure to comply with terms of a contract (usually insurance)
Defamation • Damage to another person’s reputation • False, harmful, and unprivileged statements • Two types • Slander = oral • Libel = written • Both require publication
Slander • False spoken word or gesture • Generally must prove monetary loss • Monetary loss = special damages • Lost business, lost wages, psychiatrist bills, etc. • Exception • “Slander per se”
Libel • Written or printed falsehoods • Damages are presumed • Even in absence of actual monetary loss • At common law • Libel was a crime
Defenses to Defamation • Truth • An absolute defense to defamation • Privilege • Defamation of a public figure requires actual malice
Invasion of Privacy • Four distinct torts • Unreasonable intrusion on seclusion • Appropriation of another’s name or likeness • Unreasonable publicity • Publicity placing another in a false light
Invasion of Privacy • Damages for invasions of privacy may include amounts for: • Resulting illness • Harm to victim’s business interests • Profits that the perpetrator may have recognized from his or her misconduct
Invasion of Privacy • Damages may be presumed for affront to person’s dignity • Similar to other intentional torts such as battery, assault, and false imprisonment
Summary • Definition of a tort • Battery • Assault • False imprisonment • Consent
Summary • Intentional infliction of severe emotional distress • Trespass • Trespass to chattels • Conversion
Summary • Fraud • Bad faith • Defamation • Invasion of privacy