Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Medical Malpractice

This week, the American Law Institute’s membership voted voted to approve Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Medical Malpractice.  

This volume focuses on distinct liability issues that arise when a patient seeks or obtains medical care. It focuses on the doctrinal core that distinguishes medical liability from other areas of tort law, leaving to other portions of the Restatement Third of Torts coverage of the many generally applicable topics and doctrinal elements that can arise across a range of tort actions, including medical malpractice.

The project is organized into fifteen sections:

§ 1. Patient and Provider Defined

§ 2. Patient-Care Relationship

§ 3. Duties to Patients and Others

§ 4. Liability for Breach of Duty

§ 5. Standard of Reasonable Medical Care

§ 6. Establishing Breach of the Standard of Care

§ 7. Res Ipsa Loquitur

§ 8. Lost Chance

§ 9. Agreements Affecting Medical Liability

§ 10. No Waiver of Liability

§ 11. Agreements to Take a Nonstandard Approach to Care

§ 12. Informed Consent: Duty and Exceptions

§ 13. Informed Consent: Factual Cause and Scope of Liability

§ 14. Medical Institutions’ Duties

§ 15. Vicarious Liability