When a medical professional fails in his or her professional duties, and the patient sustains injury due to this failure, that patient may have recourse to sue to recover his or her losses.
Medical malpractice can be difficult to establish, as it requires an understanding of medicine and of medical practices so that a standard of care can be established. Medicine is a complicated field, and at times, even the best of care can end up causing injury. To establish medical malpractice, the case must show that the medical professional tasked with providing care was incompetent or negligent in doing so.