Malpractice

00:00 A quick note about Malpractice. So, what is malpractice? It's a tort or civil wrong, it's not a crime because a crime requires a mens rea, an evil intent and an actus rea, an evil deed but malpractice is considered a tort and there are 2 types of tort, the intentional tort and unintentional tort or negligence which is the basis for most malpractice claims. Now, malpractice, this is the one thing you really need to know for your exam. It is defined as the dereliction of duty that directly leads to damages so keep that in mind, the 4 Ds of malpractice. If somebody is found to have committed malpractice, there are 2 types of punishment. Compensatory which is awarded to the patient as reimbursement for medical expenses, lost salary, or physical suffering and then there's also punitive which is awarded to the patient only in order to punish the doctor for gross negligence or carelessness. The most common cause of lawsuits filed against psychiatrists is actually when there is a really bad outcome like a patient suicide. So, in summary, the thing you need to know about malpractice for your exam is that there is a dereliction of duty that directly leads to damage. So keep that in mind.