Medical Law, Ethics, and Professionalism (MLEP) Module 3 and 4 Practice Exam

Misfeasance describes performing a lawful act in an improper or negligent way. You’re allowed to perform the act, but the execution is faulty, leading to harm. For example, a doctor conducts a legitimate procedure but uses a negligent technique or makes an error in dosing, causing injury. Malfeasance would be carrying out an act that is illegal or unauthorized; nonfeasance is failing to act when there is a duty to act; res ipsa loquitur is a doctrine used to infer negligence from the nature of an accident, not a label for how the act was performed.