Term	Definition
Civil legal action	In civil legal actions, the plaintiff seeks from the court an order of monetary compensation (damages) for harm or injury suffered as a result of the negligence or wrongful conduct of the defendant. Several different defendants, such as individual health professionals, hospitals/institutions, equipment manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies may be named in a civil legal action. In civil legal actions, these issues are decided on the balance of probability (defendant in a civil action may be found liable if the essential elements of the claim are established on a balance of probability). The “cause of action” or central focus is usually an allegation of negligence, including substandard care and a lack of informed consent. Other allegations in civil legal actions include assault and battery, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty. In civil legal actions, the plaintiff can be awarded monetary compensation as a result of either a successful legal action against the defendant physician(s) or as a negotiated settlement of the claim.
Harm	Death: Healthcare-related death Severe: Patient harm is symptomatic, requiring life-saving intervention or major medical/surgical intervention, or resulting in a shortening life expectancy, or causing major permanent or temporary harm or loss of function. Moderate: Patient harm is symptomatic, requiring intervention (e.g., additional moderate or minor operative procedure, additional therapeutic treatment), or an increased length of stay, or causing permanent or temporary harm, or loss of function. Mild: Patient harm is symptomatic, symptoms are mild, loss of function or harm is minimal (permanent or temporary), and minimal or no intervention is required (e.g., extra observation, investigation, review, or minor treatment). Asymptomatic: A patient safety event or patient safety incident that reached the patient but the patient reports no symptoms and no treatment is required.
Inherent risk	Based on peer expert opinion, a harmful incident that is a known risk associated with a particular investigation, medication, or treatment. It is the risk from undergoing a procedure in ideal conditions, performed by qualified staff using current research equipment and techniques.
Patient safety Incident	An event or circumstance which could have resulted, or did result, in unnecessary harm to the patient. Harmful incident: A patient safety incident that resulted in harm to the patient. No harm incident: A patient safety incident that reached the patient but no discernible harm resulted. Near miss: A patient safety incident that did not reach the patient.
Peer expert	Physicians retained by parties in the legal actions who interpreted and provided their opinions on clinical, scientific, or technical issues surrounding the healthcare provided and the alleged injuries sustained; typically, of similar training and experience as the physicians whose care they were reviewing.
Settlement	An agreement, usually monetary, made between opposing parties in a lawsuit to resolve the legal dispute. A lawsuit can be settled at any stage before the trial is concluded.