Medical Malpractice Law

Medical malpractice is negligence committed by a professional health care provider—a doctor, nurse, dentist, technician, hospital or hospital worker—whose performance of duties departs from a standard of practice of those with similar training and experience, resulting in harm to a patient or patients.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.

The lottery-like aspect of civil liability is nowhere more evident than in medical liability. Very few acts of medical negligence result in patient claims and that very few paid claims actually involve medical negligence. The traditional system no longer works. These non-notorious inequities and inefficiencies of the medical liability system negatively affect the cost and quality of health care as well as access to adequate health care. More important, the practice of "defensive medicine" as a means of reducing or avoiding tort liability is a major contributor to health care cost.

Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which care provided deviates from accepted standards of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient. Standards and regulations for medical malpractice vary by country and jurisdiction within countries. Medical professionals are required to maintain professional liability insurance to offset the risk and costs of lawsuits based on medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice insurance covers doctors and other professionals in the medical field for liability claims arising from their treatment of patients. The mission of the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) is to improve public understanding of insurance - what it does and how it works. For more than 40 years, the I.I.I. has provided definitive insurance information. Today, the I.I.I. is recognized by the media, governments, regulatory organizations, universities and the public as a primary source of information, analysis and referral concerning insurance.

Local statutes must be consulted for restrictions that apply to actions against health care providers. Many states have enacted special medical malpractice statutes as a response to what some contend is another "medical malpractice crisis," said to have been brought about by an increase in the number of medical malpractice actions, substantial jury awards, and a resulting increase in liability insurance rates for health care providers. The requirements of these statutes must be satisfied before a medical malpractice plaintiff can get his or her claim before a jury.

Our mission at the American Medical Association is to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.

Each year many groundless medical malpractice suits are initiated against health care providers. Physicians are pressured to settle frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits in order to minimize their financial risk. Damaging physician's reputations. Creating undue stress. And greatly increasing medical malpractice insurance premiums. The legal system leaves physicians vulnerable to frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits filed by unethical plaintiffs, attorneys, and "expert" witnesses.

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