What is negligence per se?

What is negligence per se?

• A. It requires showing breach of a statute or regulation defining standard.
• B. It is the same as res ipsa loquitur.
• C. It immunizes the physician from liability.
• D. It requires intent to harm.

Answer: (A)

Negligence per se uses a defendant’s violation of a statute or regulation to establish breach of duty. If a statute defines a standard of care and the defendant breaks it, and the plaintiff is someone the statute was meant to protect and the injury is of the type the statute aims to prevent, then the violation itself can prove negligence. In other words, the breach is the statutory violation, which sets the standard of care for that situation. This isn’t the same as res ipsa loquitur, which allows an inference of negligence based on the nature of the accident and the defendant’s control without necessarily pointing to a specific statute being violated. It doesn’t immunize a physician from liability, and negligence per se does not require intent to harm.

Negligence per se uses a defendant’s violation of a statute or regulation to establish breach of duty. If a statute defines a standard of care and the defendant breaks it, and the plaintiff is someone the statute was meant to protect and the injury is of the type the statute aims to prevent, then the violation itself can prove negligence. In other words, the breach is the statutory violation, which sets the standard of care for that situation.

This isn’t the same as res ipsa loquitur, which allows an inference of negligence based on the nature of the accident and the defendant’s control without necessarily pointing to a specific statute being violated. It doesn’t immunize a physician from liability, and negligence per se does not require intent to harm.