Every year thousands of people are injured or killed as a result of medical malpractice. Medical malpractice can arise when a medical facility, doctor, or health care provider injures a patient. Health care providers are required to meet certain standards of acceptable care. When they fail to do so and a person is injured because of that failure, a medical malpractice claim arises.

Medical malpractice suits can arise under different circumstances: against a government agency that operates hospitals or provides specified medical care; against a hospital for administering improper or overdoses of medication, negligent nursing care, inadequate sanitation, infection, or equipment failure; against a physician, who in the general practice of medicine, deviates from the general accepted standards of practice by delaying or failing to properly diagnose a medical condition, by failing to properly treat a medical condition, by failing to perform a surgical procedure properly, or by failing to obtain the patient's informed consent before performing a procedure or operation; or against a medical specialist who deviates from a nationally accepted standard of practice for specialists in their field.

In most medical malpractice cases, the first step is for you to obtain all of your medical records relating to the treatment received. Medical malpractice may often be proven on the basis of what is contained, or omitted, from those medical records. If you suspect that you or your child has been injured as a result of medical malpractice, it is critical to seek the advice of a lawyer, experienced in medical malpractice, to be certain that your action is brought in a timely manner.