Personal Injury Terms and Definitions

Loss of Consortium When a person is injured, that person's spouse may also have a valid claim for Loss of Consortium. Loss of consortium represent many things, including the spouse's loss of the injured person's assistance in caring for the family home and children, as well as the additional stress and strain placed upon the marital relationship by the physical injuries that were suffered. Medical Malpractice Medical malpractice is the failure of medical professionals to provide adequate treatment resulting in a personal injury or substantial loss of income. Punitive damages Also called exemplary damages, which are designed to punish a defendant whose behavior in causing the plaintiff's injuries was especially egregious. Tinnitus Ear Ringing Together with other abnormal ear noises, ear ringing is medically called tinnitus. Buzzing, roaring, and pulsitile sounds are sometimes perceived when no sound is present in persons with tinnitus. Ambulatory Surgery Ambulatory surgery refers to previously scheduled surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed on an outpatient basis in a hospital or freestanding ambulatory surgery center's general or main operating rooms Liable Legally responsible. For example, a person may be liable for a debt, liable for an accident due to careless behavior, liable for failing do something required by a contract or liable for the commission of a crime. Bodily Injury A cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement; physical pain, illness, impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary. Burden of proof A party's job of convincing the decisionmaker in a trial that the party's version of the facts is true. In a civil trial, it means that the plaintiff must convince the judge or jury "by a preponderance of the evidence" that the plaintiff's version is true -- that is, over 50% of the believable evidence is in the plaintiff's favor. Unintentional Injury Two categories of unintentional injury: motor vehicle-related injuries and home and recreation related injuries. Soft Tissue Injury Injury to the ligaments, tendons and fibers of the body that connect the skeletal bones.

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	Did You Know?
	Children injured at playgrounds may be eligible get injury compensation from the owner Playground accidents result in about 200,000 emergency visits every year-that's one injury every 2½ minutes.