§ 7.70.010 Declaration of modification of actions for damages based upon injuries resulting from health care
§ 7.70.020 Definitions
§ 7.70.030 Propositions required to be established — Burden of proof
§ 7.70.040 Necessary elements of proof that injury resulted from failure to follow accepted standard of care — COVID-19 pandemic
§ 7.70.050 Failure to secure informed consent — Necessary elements of proof — Emergency situations
§ 7.70.060 Consent form — Contents — Prima facie evidence — Shared decision making — Patient decision aid — Failure to use
§ 7.70.065 Informed consent — Persons authorized to provide for patients who do not have capacity — Priority — Unaccompanied homeless minors
§ 7.70.068 Informed consent — May be contained in mental health advance directive
§ 7.70.070 Attorneys’ fees
§ 7.70.080 Evidence of compensation from other source
§ 7.70.090 Hospital governing bodies — Liability — Limitations
§ 7.70.100 Mandatory mediation of health care claims — Procedures
§ 7.70.110 Mandatory mediation of health care claims — Tolling statute of limitations
§ 7.70.120 Mandatory mediation of health care claims — Right to trial not abridged
§ 7.70.130 Mandatory mediation of health care claims — Exempt from arbitration mandate
§ 7.70.140 Medical malpractice closed claim reporting requirements
§ 7.70.160 Frivolous claims
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Terms Used In Washington Code > Chapter 7.70 - Actions for injuries resulting from health care

  • Act: means a final decision by an agency which places requirements, limitations, or conditions upon the use of real property in excess of those allowed by applicable regulations in effect on the date an application for a permit is filed. See Washington Code 64.40.010
  • Advertisement: means any written, printed, audio, or visual communication which is published in whole or part to sell, offer to sell, or solicit an offer for a timeshare. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Agency: means the state of Washington, any of its political subdivisions, including any city, town, or county, and any other public body exercising regulatory authority or control over the use of real property in the state. See Washington Code 64.40.010
  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Apartment: means a part of the property intended for any type of independent use, including one or more rooms or spaces located on one or more floors (or part or parts thereof) in a building, or if not in a building, a separately delineated place of storage or moorage of a boat, plane, or motor vehicle, regardless of whether it is destined for a residence, an office, storage or moorage of a boat, plane, or motor vehicle, the operation of any industry or business, or for any other use not prohibited by law, and which has a direct exit to a public street or highway, or to a common area leading to such street or highway. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Apartment owner: means the person or persons owning an apartment, as herein defined, in fee simple absolute or qualified, by way of leasehold or by way of a periodic estate, or in any other manner in which real property may be owned, leased or possessed in this state, together with an undivided interest in a like estate of the common areas and facilities in the percentage specified and established in the declaration as duly recorded or as it may be lawfully amended. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appraisal: A determination of property value.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Association of apartment owners: means all of the apartment owners acting as a group in accordance with the bylaws and with the declaration as it is duly recorded or as they may be lawfully amended. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
  • Authorized contractor: means a person who decontaminates, demolishes, or disposes of contaminated property as required by this chapter who is certified by the department as provided for in RCW 64. See Washington Code 64.44.010
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Building: means a building, containing two or more apartments, or two or more buildings each containing one or more apartments, and comprising a part of the property. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
  • Common expenses: include :
Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Common profits: means the balance of all income, rents, profits and revenues from the common areas and facilities remaining after the deduction of the common expenses. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • contamination: means polluted by hazardous chemicals so that the property is unfit for human habitation or use due to immediate or long-term hazards. See Washington Code 64.44.010
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Declaration: means the instrument by which the property is submitted to provisions of this chapter, as hereinafter provided, and as it may be, from time to time, lawfully amended. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Department: means the department of health. See Washington Code 64.44.010
  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • Director: means the director of licensing. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • electronically transmitted: means any electronic communication not directly involving the physical transfer of a writing in a tangible medium, but that may be retained, retrieved, and reviewed by the sender and the recipient of the communication, and that may be directly reproduced in a tangible medium by a sender and recipient. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Hazardous chemicals: means :
    • Washington Code 64.44.010
  • health care provider: means either:
    • Washington Code 7.70.020
  • Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
  • Interval: means that period of time when a timeshare owner is entitled to the possession and use of the timeshare unit. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Land: means the material of the earth, whatever may be the ingredients of which it is composed, whether soil, rock, or other substance, whether or not submerged, and includes free or occupied space for an indefinite distance upwards as well as downwards, subject to limitations upon the use of airspace imposed, and rights in the use of the airspace granted, by the laws of this state or of the United States. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Limited common areas and facilities: includes those common areas and facilities designated in the declaration, as it is duly recorded or as it may be lawfully amended, as reserved for use of certain apartment or apartments to the exclusion of the other apartments. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
  • Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Offer: means any inducement, solicitation, or attempt to encourage any person to acquire a timeshare. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Officer: means a local health officer authorized under chapters 70. See Washington Code 64.44.010
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Percent of the apartment owners: means the apartment owners with the stated percent or more of the votes in accordance with the percentages assigned in the declaration, as duly recorded or as it may be lawfully amended, to the apartments for voting purposes. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Permit: means any governmental approval required by law before an owner of a property interest may improve, sell, transfer, or otherwise put real property to use. See Washington Code 64.40.010
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, trustee, or other legal entity. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Person: means a natural person, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, or other legal or commercial entity. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • person: may be construed to include the United States, this state, or any state or territory, or any public or private corporation or limited liability company, as well as an individual. See Washington Code 1.16.080
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Promoter: means any person directly or indirectly instrumental in organizing, wholly or in part, a timeshare offering. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Property: means the land, the building, all improvements and structures thereon, all owned in fee simple absolute or qualified, by way of leasehold or by way of a periodic estate, or in any other manner in which real property may be owned, leased or possessed in this state, and all easements, rights and appurtenances belonging thereto, none of which shall be considered as a security or security interest, and all articles of personalty intended for use in connection therewith, which have been or are intended to be submitted to the provisions of this chapter. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Property: means any real or personal property, or segregable part thereof, that is involved in or affected by the unauthorized manufacture, distribution, storage, or use of hazardous chemicals. See Washington Code 64.44.010
  • Property interest: means any interest or right in real property in the state. See Washington Code 64.40.010
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • Proxy voting: The practice of allowing a legislator to cast a vote in committee for an absent legislator.
  • Purchaser: means any person, other than a promoter, who by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a timeshare, other than as security for an obligation. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Regulation: means any ordinance, resolution, or other rule or regulation adopted pursuant to the authority provided by state law, which imposes or alters restrictions, limitations, or conditions on the use of real property. See Washington Code 64.40.010
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
  • Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Source: OCC
  • Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
  • sell: includes every contract of sale of, contract to sell, or disposition of, a timeshare for value. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Solar easement: means a right, expressed as an easement, restriction, covenant, or condition contained in any deed, contract, or other written instrument executed by or on behalf of any landowner for the purpose of assuring adequate access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems. See Washington Code 64.04.150
  • Solar energy system: means any device or combination of devices or elements which rely upon direct sunlight as an energy source, including but not limited to any substance or device which collects sunlight for use in:
    • Washington Code 64.04.150
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Tangible medium: means a writing, copy of a writing, facsimile, or a physical reproduction, each on paper or on other tangible material. See Washington Code 64.32.010
  • Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Timeshare: means a right to occupy a unit or any of several units during three or more separate time periods over a period of at least three years, including renewal options, whether or not coupled with an estate in land. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Timeshare instrument: means one or more documents, by whatever name denominated, creating or regulating timeshares. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Timeshare owner: means a person who is an owner or co-owner of a timeshare. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Timeshare salesperson: means any natural person who offers a timeshare unit for sale. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Unit: means the real or personal property, or portion thereof, in which the timeshare exists and which is designated for separate use. See Washington Code 64.36.010
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
  • Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
  • Voice vote: A vote in which the Presiding Officer states the question, then asks those in favor and against to say "Yea" or "Nay," respectively, and announces the result according to his or her judgment. The names or numbers of legisators voting on each side are not recorded.
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.