You trusted your doctor to help you, not harm you. If medical negligence has left you worse off than before, you have the right to hold healthcare providers accountable. Learn how.
Expert information to help you understand your rights and options
Medical malpractice occurs when healthcare providers deviate from accepted standards of care, causing patient harm. These complex claims require expert testimony and face unique procedural hurdles. Learn about malpractice lawsuits, proving negligence, and pursuing compensation for medical injuries.
Successful malpractice claims require proving four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Missing any element defeats your claim. Understanding what must be proven helps evaluate your case. Learn about malpractice elements and building a successful claim.
Standard of care is what a reasonably competent healthcare provider would do in similar circumstances. Deviating from this standard creates malpractice liability. Expert witnesses define the standard. Learn how standard of care is established and proven in malpractice cases.
Many states cap damages in malpractice cases—limiting non-economic damages, total recovery, or both. Caps significantly affect case value, especially for severe injuries. Find your state caps and how limitations affect potential compensation.
Malpractice settlements depend on injury severity, liability clarity, defendant resources, and state damage caps. Catastrophic injuries command the highest compensation. Understand settlement factors and evaluating malpractice case value.
Many states require certificates of merit—expert affidavits confirming malpractice merit—before filing lawsuits. Failing to comply with certificate requirements can result in case dismissal. Learn about your state certificate requirements and compliance procedures.
Malpractice claims face strict filing deadlines—often 1-3 years, but discovery rules may extend time when injuries are not immediately apparent. Missing deadlines permanently bars your claim. Learn applicable deadlines and exceptions for malpractice cases.
Medical malpractice cases require expert witnesses—typically physicians—to establish standard of care, breach, and causation. Without qualified expert testimony, cases cannot proceed. Learn about expert witness requirements and their role in malpractice litigation.
Patients must give informed consent before procedures—understanding risks, benefits, and alternatives. When doctors fail to obtain proper consent and complications occur, malpractice liability may exist. Learn about informed consent requirements and consent-based malpractice claims.
Malpractice claims may target individual physicians, hospitals, or both. Hospital liability depends on whether doctors are employees or independent contractors and whether hospitals have direct negligence. Learn about choosing defendants and maximizing available recovery sources.