Advanced Practice Legal Considerations Case Study

Advanced Practice Legal Considerations - Case Study Example Basically, there are six types of torts—a few of which will be discussed here, and how those specific laws apply to Luann’s situation. There are intentional torts against persons, which deal with very specific charges that are incurred when one person injures another. Other categories of torts similarly deal with different types of wrongs committed, including: unintentional torts (negligence); and special negligence doctrines, including negligent infliction of emotional distress among others. Finally, defenses against negligence—as well as strict liability—will be examined, especially as it regards whether confidentiality issues were breached when the lab tech used personal information to make a decision about informing someone about someone else’s health, a one person who was not supposed to be privy to that information as that person was a third party. Herein are analyses of some aspects of torts, some of which may not be torts which necessarily a lign with this particular case, but which should be mentioned nonetheless. II. Misappropriation of the Right to Publicity According to Frackman et. al. (1996), â€Å"The right of publicity makes it unlawful to use another's identity for commercial advantage without permission. In recent years, that right has grown to encompass the potential misappropriation of voice, performance style, former names, and maybe, as contended in a case recently filed in Indiana regarding the race horse Cigar, . . . the image of an animal† (pp. 1). Misappropriation of the right to publicity basically means that someone’s privacy is being invaded in some way, shape, or form. Others’ privacy should be guarded well. III. Invasion of the Right to Privacy An invasion of the right to privacy is a direct intrusion on someone’s personal space. This â€Å"invasion of privacy,† so to speak, is not legislated per se. However, confidentiality agreements—such as the one the lab tech Luann signed—should be honored, and are honored, in a court of law. However, various celebrities and other personalities of note have invoked the invasion of the right to privacy in court cases. Using the name or likeness of a person can also get one into trouble in regard to the invasion of privacy. This is a bit like intellectual property law, where someone’s image is protected. Interference with the First Amendment can be a cause of torts. In the case of invasion of the right of privacy, this applies occasionally. IV. Unintentional Torts (Negligence) a) Duty of Care Duty of care basically means that a reasonable person has a duty to another person to make sure that he or she does not have any kind of trouble. This means that anyone should act reasonably according with to the situation at hand. For example, one example of duty of care is that, if an oncoming car is about to hit a pedestrian, and a passersby had the chance to save the person, this is called t he person’s duty of care. Any reasonably-acting person would have tried to get the pedestrian out of the way of the oncoming car. In Luann’s case, she had the duty of care to protect the confidentiality of her client’s name and condition. She did not abide by the confidentiality agreement set forth when hired, and this is what got her into a lot of trouble with the courts. V. Breach of Duty Breach of duty occurs when a person has a duty to perform for a person, but he or she does not do it. For instance, in the previous example with the car about to hit the pedestrian, the onlooker would have performed a breach of duty by not rescuing the