If a medical professional makes an error that results in injury to the patient, the patient may be able to sue the negligent party or parties for monetary damages to compensate him or her for the medical injury. Medical malpractice claims arise when a health care professional or organization provides unskilled or negligent treatment that results in injury to the patient. The underlying basis for a medical malpractice claim is that you sustain an injury as a result of treatment that falls below the accepted standard of medical care for that particular field of professional expertise.

Medical injury is defined as any adverse, untoward or undesired consequences arising out of or sustained in the course of professional services rendered by a medical care provider, whether resulting from negligence, error or omission in the performance of such services; from rendition of such services without informed consent or in breach of warranty or in violation of contract; from failure to diagnose; from premature abandonment of a patient or of a course of treatment; from failure properly to maintain equipment or appliances necessary to the rendition of such services; or otherwise arising out of or sustained in the course of such services.

Some examples of medical malpractice include incorrect diagnosis or failure to diagnose, failure to treat, improper treatment, delay in treatment, prescription errors, surgical errors, foreign object left in the body, failure to properly monitor a patient, failure to order necessary tests, birth injuries, rendition of services without informed consent, etc.