Medical Malpractice

Abstract Medical malpractice involves patient injury or death attributed to negligent behavior by a medical practitioner. Establishing a case of medical malpractice is complicated by the complexities and uncertainties inherent in medical practice as well as patient variation in disease prognoses. Establishing a malpractice claim is further complicated by the fact that death and injury (e.g., surgical incisions) are normal parts of medical practice, making it difficult to distinguish medical errors from probabilistically normal treatment outcomes. This ambiguity opens the door for litigation and introduces legal complexities. Over the past four decades changes in medical technology, health care organization, and tort law, and the development of an audit culture, have resulted in malpractice litigation becoming an expected part of medical practice, especially for high‐risk physician specialties. Fear and threat of litigation affect not only individual practitioner treatment choices but also standards of practice and patient–doctor interaction.