Home |
Climate Change Project |
Table of Contents |
Courses | Search |
Punitive damages may not be awarded for merely negligent behavior. The conduct must be intentionally harmful or grossly negligent:
Punitive damages are seldom at issue in medical malpractice litigation that arises from traditional treatment situations. In the medical treatment context, they are usually awarded when the physician engages in conduct--medical (a drunk surgeon), social (sexual abuse), or financial (fraudulently inducing the patient to undergo medically unnecessary treatment)--before a court would allow the awarding of punitive damages. They are a more significant problem for medical device manufacturers. Even in these cases, the plaintiff must usually show that the defendant knew that the product was dangerous, continued to market the product, and covered up the product defect.
[6]Day v. Woodworth, 54 US (13 How) 363, 371, 14 L ED 181 (1851). [7]Day v. Woodworth, 54 US (13 How) 363, 371, 14 L ED 181 (1851).The Climate Change and Public Health Law Site
The Best on the WWW Since 1995!
Copyright as to non-public domain materials
See DR-KATE.COM for home hurricane and disaster preparation
See WWW.EPR-ART.COM for photography of southern Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina
Professor Edward P. Richards, III, JD, MPH - Webmaster
Provide Website Feedback - https://www.lsu.edu/feedback
Privacy Statement - https://www.lsu.edu/privacy
Accessibility Statement - https://www.lsu.edu/accessibility