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People can sue health care practitioners if they feel they have been injured. A wide variety of causes of action and legal proceedings may be involved. However, successful medical malpractice lawsuits generally require proof of all of the following:

• The care provided was below the ordinary standard of care that would be provided by similar health care practitioners under similar circumstances.
• A professional relationship existed between the health care practitioner and the injured person.
• The person was harmed because of the deviation from the standard of care.

Concern about lawsuits sometimes puts pressure on doctors to act in ways that are not necessarily in the best interest of their patients. For example, doctors may order tests or treatments that are not clearly medically necessary to avoid even a remote possibility of missing something and thus leaving themselves open to a lawsuit. However, most physicians understand that the best defense against malpractice lawsuits is providing excellent medical care and building close, trusting, collaborative relationships with patients.

Last full review/revision October 2007 by Charles Sabatino, JD