Medical Malpractice Medical malpractice is a doctor's failure to exercise the degree of care and skill that a physician, surgeon, or any other medical professional would use under routine circumstances. Medical malpractice is a subspecialty of the law that is regularly handled by only a few firms in each community.

 It is a highly technical, yet a specialized field. Some medical malpractice attorneys primarily handle birth trauma cases. Other attorneys may handle surgical errors, misdiagnosis of cancer, and medical negligence.

Common Cases

Medical malpractice can occur in any area of medicine in which a patient can be injured as a result of poor treatment. Most common areas in which medical malpractice occur is during anesthesia, child delivery, surgical errors, and general failure to diagnose. Anesthesia requires the use of sensitive techniques, improper use of the anesthetic agents and other substances can results in serious physical impairment or death. Surgical errors can occur during any part of surgery, or during postoperative care if performed incorrectly. Injuries that result from medical professionals making an incorrect diagnosis when given significant information is a typical cause of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Choosing an Attorney

There are a number of factors you should look for when choosing a lawyer in this field. A lawyer can tell you that he or she handles medical malpractice cases, but in reality only a few actually do. You want to be absolutely sure that the lawyer you hire really handles this type of case. Medical malpractice lawyers know the laws with special rules and exceptions that exist in many states for these negligence cases. Most malpractice attorneys take their cases on a "contingency" basis, meaning the attorney fee is a percentage of the amount recovered from the defendant through the judgment.