Duty of care is a fiduciary obligation that healthcare providers have to the people in which they treat. This duty is based on professional medical standards and is defined as care that any reasonable physician must provide in order to protect their patient from unnecessary risk of harm. Failure to uphold this duty of care is called a breach of duty or medical negligence. A doctor can be held liable for damages through a physician medical malpractice claim if they carelessly or irresponsibly breached their duties to provide reasonable care to a patient and caused injury.