Whether you suffer from a chronic illness or an unexpected injury, medical malpractice cases often involve a doctor's negligence or incompetence. To establish medical malpractice, you must be able to prove that your doctor's actions caused you harm. This usually requires the help of an expert medical witness. In many medical malpractice cases, a competent physician could have identified your condition sooner or made a different diagnosis, leading to a better outcome. Misdiagnosis is a common medical malpractice claim that can arise when a doctor fails to diagnose a medical condition. The claim may even include damages for medication or treatments prescribed when diagnosed with the incorrect disorder. Surgical procedures and medical treatments where a medical professional fails to follow the accepted standards of care, causing harm to a patient are also common. All surgical procedures are a risk, but there is a difference between known and acceptable surgical complications and medical errors. Your lawyer must prove that you suffered because of a medical error, which is something that could have been preventable. Childbirth is a subcategory of the above. If an obstetrician fails to diagnose a condition or fails to induce labor if the baby is in distress. Some of these mistakes can be the cause of birth injuries, such as shoulder dystocia, cerebral palsy, or a ruptured spinal cord. Drug errors are also common and affect 1.5 million people a year. Pharmacists may fill the wrong prescription or the wrong dosage. A doctor may call in the wrong prescription or the wrong dosage. A doctor may overprescribe a drug such as opioids. A nurse may administer an incorrect intravenous drug or dosage during a hospital stay. An anesthesiologist may administer the wrong dosage during a surgical procedure or may not have read the patient's file for red flags on why they may not do well with a certain anesthetic. A medical malpractice claim must have evidence to support it, including the existence of a doctor-patient relationship and a causal connection between the health care provider and the injury. Moreover, injuries caused by negligence must be sufficiently severe to justify a medical malpractice claim.