Medical malpractice remains one of the most complex and costly risks in American healthcare, with over $4.67 billion in annual payouts and a growing number of physicians navigating claims involving diagnostic delays, surgical complications, or breakdowns in informed consent. While the legal definition of malpractice hinges on deviation from the accepted standard of care, the ways this can occur are surprisingly diverse—and not always intuitive. In malpractice cases, the delivery of appropriate care—meaning treatment that meets both legal and professional standards—is the benchmark used to determine whether a provider’s actions were proper or negligent.
In this guide, we’ll quickly wade into medical malpractice coverage, causes of malpractice, notable cases, and the role of expert medical witness testimony. The meat of the article is an exploration of the full spectrum of types of medical malpractice, from the most common, like missed diagnoses or surgical errors, to less-discussed issues: documentation failures, genetic testing errors, and telemedicine mishandling. If you’re a physician trying to understand where your practice is most vulnerable, or a risk manager educating your team, this blog will help you grasp the major categories, see real-world examples, and access deeper resources on each topic.
We also wrote a blog covering in depth the most common medical mistakes, read it here!
Medical malpractice is a critical issue in the healthcare industry, referring to situations where healthcare professionals fail to provide care that meets the accepted standards of their profession, resulting in harm or injury to patients. This can take many forms, from misdiagnosis and surgical mistakes to medication errors and inadequate treatment. Medical malpractice lawsuits are designed to hold medical professionals accountable for these lapses and to secure compensation for those affected by medical negligence.
In the United States, medical malpractice cases are not uncommon, with thousands of malpractice lawsuits filed each year. These cases highlight the importance of maintaining high standards in medical care and ensuring that healthcare professionals are diligent in their responsibilities. Some famous medical malpractice cases, such as the Duke University Hospital heart and lung transplant incident, have brought national attention to the consequences of medical errors. In that case, a patient received a heart and lung transplant with organs that were incompatible with her blood type, leading to tragic results and sparking widespread discussion about the need for rigorous safeguards in organ transplantation and other complex medical procedures.
Ultimately, medical malpractice serves as a reminder of the trust patients place in their healthcare professionals and the serious consequences that can arise when that trust is broken.
The causes of medical malpractice claims are varied and often complex, involving a combination of human, technical, and systemic factors. Human error remains one of the most common contributors, whether due to fatigue, distraction, or lapses in judgment by medical professionals. Inadequate training or failure to stay current with evolving medical standards can also lead to mistakes that harm patients.
Systemic failures, such as poor communication between healthcare teams, lack of standardized protocols, or malfunctioning equipment, can further increase the risk of medical errors. These issues can occur in any healthcare setting, from large hospitals to small clinics and private practices. For example, a simple miscommunication about a patient’s medication allergies or a missed step in a surgical checklist can have serious, even life-threatening, consequences.
To reduce the risk of medical malpractice, healthcare providers must prioritize patient safety at every level. This includes implementing robust safety protocols, investing in ongoing education and training, and fostering a culture where transparency and accountability are valued. When medical malpractice does occur, patients have the right to file a medical malpractice claim to seek compensation for their injuries and to encourage improvements in care standards.
Throughout history, there have been numerous notable medical malpractice case stories that have shaped public awareness and legal standards in healthcare. These cases often involve severe outcomes, such as wrongful death, serious injury, or irreversible brain damage, and serve as stark reminders of the importance of vigilance in medical practice.
One of the most famous medical malpractice cases occurred at Duke University Hospital, where a young patient underwent a heart and lung transplant only to discover that the donor organs were incompatible with her blood type. This tragic error led to severe brain damage and ultimately, the patient’s death. The case resulted in a high-profile malpractice lawsuit and brought national attention to the need for rigorous checks in organ transplantation.
Other significant cases have involved medical professionals failing to diagnose or properly treat conditions like breast cancer, cardiac arrest, or spinal cord injuries. In these situations, delays or errors in care have led to devastating outcomes for patients and their families. Medical malpractice lawsuits in such cases not only seek compensation for the victims but also drive changes in hospital protocols and professional accountability.
These high-profile cases underscore the profound impact that medical negligence can have on individuals and the healthcare system as a whole, reinforcing the need for constant vigilance and adherence to best practices.
Read more medical malpractice case studies here.
Medical expert witness testimony is a cornerstone of medical malpractice litigation, providing the critical insight needed to determine whether a healthcare provider’s actions met the accepted standard of care. In medical malpractice cases, expert witnesses—often experienced doctors or specialists—are called upon to review medical records, analyze treatment decisions, and assess whether the care provided was reasonable and consistent with what would be reasonably expected by a similar physician in the same specialty given the circumstances.
These medical professionals help clarify complex medical issues for judges and juries, explaining whether a defendant’s actions were reasonable or if they deviated from established protocols. Expert testimony is especially important in cases involving medical errors, as the plaintiff must establish a direct link between a provider’s actions (or omissions) and the harm suffered by the patient.
Beyond helping to resolve individual cases, expert testimony can also highlight broader patterns of medical negligence or systemic failures within healthcare organizations. By identifying areas where care fell short, expert witnesses contribute to ongoing improvements in medical care and patient safety. Their involvement ensures that victims of medical malpractice have a fair opportunity to seek justice and that healthcare professionals are held to the highest standards of accountability.
Among all types of medical malpractice, diagnostic failures remain the most frequent and most expensive. These errors can occur at any stage of care—from initial intake to follow-up—and are especially dangerous when they delay treatment for serious or fast-moving conditions like stroke, sepsis, or cancer. The complexity of diagnosis, especially in environments with limited information or time pressure, creates a high-stakes setting where even a well-meaning provider can make a costly mistake. The use of a thorough differential diagnosis process is critical in avoiding misdiagnosis, particularly for conditions such as cancer, where early detection is essential.
Failure to Diagnose, in particular, can result in irreversible harm. For example, if a physician overlooks early symptoms of colon cancer during routine screening and fails to refer the patient for further testing, the disease may progress to an untreatable stage. There have been cases where doctors failed to recognize persistent abdominal pain as a sign of a more serious underlying condition, leading to delayed intervention and worse outcomes. These cases are often emotionally and financially devastating, and juries tend to award high payouts when they feel the patient was denied a fighting chance of a better outcome.
Read our blog all about charting with a jury in mind here!
Diagnostic Errors also include delayed or incorrect diagnoses. A patient presenting with atypical chest pain might be treated for acid reflux and discharged, only to suffer a major cardiac event hours later. In many such cases, liability hinges on whether the physician followed appropriate decision-making protocols or ignored red flags that should have prompted more thorough evaluation. Sometimes, a doctor's failure to order the right tests or follow up on abnormal results leads to missed diagnoses. The rise of AI-based decision tools has introduced new opportunities—and risks—in this area. Our AI diagnostics blog explores these technologies in more depth.
Charting by exception is a documentation method focusing only on deviation from the norm. Read all about it now!
Failure to Treat or Follow Established Protocols is another major contributor to malpractice claims. This may involve skipping recommended lab work, not prescribing indicated medications, or failing to follow evidence-based guidelines for chronic condition management. For example, not initiating statin therapy in a high-risk diabetic patient could later be deemed a failure to adhere to standard of care practices. In other instances, patients have suffered harm when the wrong treatment was administered due to miscommunication or misdiagnosis. These cases often result in adverse events that were entirely preventable with proper follow-through.
Failure to Follow Up on Abnormal Test Results is an administrative failure with clinical consequences. Consider a situation where imaging reveals a suspicious lung nodule, but the follow-up appointment is never scheduled due to clerical error. Months later, a diagnosis of advanced lung cancer emerges. In some cases, a radiologist failed to communicate critical findings to the treating physician, resulting in missed opportunities for early intervention. Even if the oversight wasn’t the physician’s direct fault, the legal liability often extends to everyone involved in the chain of care.
Failure to Act on Family History is a subtler but increasingly relevant malpractice risk. For instance, not ordering genetic screening for a woman with a strong maternal history of breast cancer could be interpreted as negligence if she later develops the disease. With the growing availability of genomic tools, expectations around preventive screening are rising—and so is scrutiny when they’re overlooked or ignored.
Procedural errors can also occur when a diagnostic test or surgery is performed incorrectly, leading to patient harm. For example, a missed diagnosis of aortic dissection—a life-threatening condition—can have fatal consequences if not identified and treated in a timely manner. Similarly, failure to monitor vital signs during or after a procedure can result in missed warning signs of deterioration.
Taken together, these diagnostic and treatment failures underscore the importance of vigilance not just in clinical judgment, but in system-level processes that support timely, accurate, and complete care. Ultimately, these are preventable medical mistakes that can have serious and lasting consequences. As medical malpractice evolves, these foundational areas remain central to both risk and prevention.
Surgical errors are among the most alarming types of medical malpractice, not just because of their dramatic nature but also because they are often viewed by patients—and juries—as completely preventable. While no procedure is risk-free, a growing body of claims stems from mistakes that go beyond accepted surgical risk and instead indicate a breach in technique, communication, or post-operative vigilance. Many of these critical errors occur in the operating room, where strict adherence to protocols is essential for patient safety.
Surgical Errors range from wrong-site surgeries and retained instruments to inadequate technique or postoperative complications that weren’t properly monitored. For instance, a patient undergoing a routine appendectomy might suffer internal bleeding due to improperly ligated vessels, and if the signs of distress are missed during recovery, the result could be fatal. In many malpractice suits, the distinction between a known complication and a preventable error can come down to documentation, intraoperative notes, and standard-of-care comparisons across facilities. Plastic surgery procedures, such as cosmetic enhancements, are also prone to malpractice claims when complications or negligence can lead to severe health consequences.
Mismanagement of Anesthesia is another high-risk area. Anesthesia errors are a significant category of surgical malpractice, often resulting from improper monitoring or evaluation before and during procedures. Anesthesiologists bear responsibility not only for sedation but also for airway protection, hemodynamic stability, and pain control. Errors like incorrect dosing, failure to monitor oxygenation, or overlooking known drug allergies can lead to devastating consequences such as hypoxic brain injury or death.
The improper administration of general anesthesia, in particular, can result in patients experiencing awareness during surgery or even painful surgery, where inadequate anesthesia causes severe pain and psychological trauma. Similarly, the presurgical consult is critical for the anesthesiologist to rule out pre-existing conditions like sleep apnea or heart disease to ensure additional measures can be taken as needed. The American Society of Anesthesiologists Classification System helps standardize communication about a patient’s overall condition and can be used alongside other factors to predict perioperative risk.
Failure to Ensure Proper Patient Identification often plays a role in procedural errors and is especially troubling because it reflects a breakdown in basic safety protocols. Consider a case where a biopsy is performed on the wrong patient due to mislabeled charts or wristbands. While many hospitals use electronic verification systems to reduce these risks, human error still finds its way into even the most digitized workflows.
Radiology Malpractice is closely tied to surgical risk, particularly when imaging misreads lead to missed diagnoses before surgery. If a radiologist overlooks a spinal cord compression on MRI, and the surgeon proceeds without that knowledge, the resulting paralysis could expose both parties to litigation. What makes radiology errors particularly challenging is that they are often discovered retrospectively, sometimes long after irreversible damage has occurred.
What are the 5 most common errors in radiology? Find out here!
Dental Malpractice, though sometimes excluded from general discussions of medmal, fits squarely into this category and is increasingly cited in civil complaints. Surgical extraction injuries, mismanaged anesthesia, and failure to detect oral cancers are just a few examples. The standards for dental care are evolving, and practitioners who treat beyond their competency or skip necessary referrals may face the same legal scrutiny as physicians.
Failure to Provide Proper Documentation is a thread that runs through nearly every surgical malpractice claim. Operating without informed consent forms, incomplete surgical notes, or ambiguous discharge instructions doesn’t just compromise care—it creates liability. Courts frequently interpret poor documentation as a sign of carelessness, especially when a patient outcome is poor and there’s no clear narrative explaining what happened.
Collectively, these surgical and procedural failures demonstrate how tightly interwoven systems, communication, and documentation are in preventing malpractice. For physicians, the lesson is clear: rigorous adherence to protocol, from pre-op verification to post-op documentation, is not just best practice—it’s legal protection.
Medication-related mistakes are among the most common types of medical malpractice and can occur at virtually any stage of care—from prescribing and dispensing to monitoring and follow-up. These errors don’t just stem from incorrect choices but also from missed interactions, overlooked contraindications, and failures to adjust for patient-specific factors such as age, kidney function, or comorbidities. In an era of increasingly complex pharmacology, these risks are more relevant than ever.
Medication Errors may include prescribing the wrong drug, incorrect dosage, or failing to consider known allergies and drug interactions. Errors in prescribing drugs—such as issuing an incorrect prescription or the wrong dosage—can lead to serious adverse outcomes, including hospitalization or even death. For example, a physician might prescribe a high-dose NSAID to an elderly patient on anticoagulants, leading to a gastrointestinal bleed and hospitalization. These cases frequently involve overlapping liability across physicians, pharmacists, and electronic prescribing systems. The takeaway is clear: when medication regimens are involved, thorough review and double-checking must be part of the process, not an afterthought.
Defective Medical Devices or Products are an often-overlooked but steadily growing category of malpractice claims. Physicians who recommend or implant faulty medical devices—such as hernia mesh, pacemakers, or joint replacements—can become entangled in product liability lawsuits, even if they were unaware of any defects at the time of use. While manufacturers are typically the primary defendants, physicians may face legal exposure if they failed to inform the patient of known risks or continued using a product after recalls or FDA safety alerts. Device-related failures are especially damaging in cases involving permanent injury, repeat surgeries, or systemic complications.
Vaccine Malpractice, though rare, has gained more visibility in recent years, particularly in relation to administration errors or misinformation. These cases often involve administering vaccines to the wrong patient, using expired doses, or failing to screen for contraindications. For example, giving a live vaccine to an immunocompromised patient could result in a severe adverse reaction. Additionally, some legal claims arise from failure to obtain proper informed consent or from not providing accurate information about potential side effects. While vaccine injuries are usually covered under the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), providers still have obligations to follow strict protocols and documentation practices.
Across all three of these malpractice subtypes, the common thread is a failure of precision—whether in decision-making, communication, or system oversight. To reduce risk, providers must stay updated on formulary changes, black-box warnings, and recall notices, and ensure every prescribing or device-related decision is backed by documentation and patient-centered reasoning.
Obstetrics and pediatrics involve some of the most emotionally and financially high-stakes claims among all types of medical malpractice. These specialties carry heightened legal exposure due to the vulnerability of the patients involved—newborns, children, and expecting mothers—and the long-term consequences that even a single error can cause. Claims in this area often hinge on whether providers met time-sensitive standards and adequately communicated risks during critical care windows.
Childbirth & Obstetric Malpractice frequently arises from injuries sustained during labor and delivery. Common scenarios include failure to detect fetal distress, delayed decision-making on emergency C-sections, improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction, or mismanagement of shoulder dystocia. The result can be permanent conditions such as cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, or hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Even when complications were unpredictable, courts often scrutinize whether the team followed established labor protocols and whether alternative interventions were reasonably available. These cases not only carry large financial settlements but also reputational risk and even media attention, especially in smaller or community-based OB practices.
Failure to Diagnose or Treat Occupational Injuries in pediatric patients may seem less common, but they represent a subtle form of malpractice tied to neglect of environmental or situational context. For example, if a school-aged child repeatedly presents with unexplained headaches or joint pain, and a physician fails to investigate lead exposure or overuse injuries from sports participation, the result could be long-term damage that was preventable with earlier intervention.
Failure to Consider Family History has critical relevance in both obstetric and pediatric care. A provider who doesn’t act on a parent’s genetic predisposition—for example, a strong family history of Tay-Sachs or cystic fibrosis—may fail to recommend appropriate prenatal genetic counseling or testing. These oversights can result in legal claims when parents argue they would have made different decisions had they known the risks. With expanding access to preimplantation and prenatal testing, patients increasingly expect that providers will raise and explain these options, even if the final decision is theirs.
We wrote an entire blog on the subject of charting with a jury in mind. Read it here!
Pediatric Delays in Diagnosis, particularly with conditions like meningitis, sepsis, or congenital anomalies, are also a leading basis for malpractice suits. Children often present with nonspecific symptoms—fever, fussiness, poor appetite—that can mask serious underlying disease. Physicians who dismiss parental concerns or fail to order appropriate labs and imaging may miss the early window for intervention. In some tragic cases, inadequate mental health assessment or intervention has led to situations where an adolescent patient committed suicide, underscoring the devastating consequences of missed psychiatric diagnoses. What makes these cases so challenging is that the consequences of delayed care often play out over a child’s entire life, with lasting impact on physical and cognitive development.
Obstetrics and pediatrics share a defining characteristic: there is little room for error, and the cost of missing even small clinical cues can be devastating. For providers in these specialties, continual education, protocol review, and documentation of parental conversations are not just best practices—they are essential safeguards.
High-pressure environments like emergency departments and inpatient hospital settings are frequent sources of medical malpractice claims due to their fast pace, fragmented communication, and reliance on large care teams. These settings require rapid decision-making and seamless coordination—conditions under which mistakes can easily occur. Competent health care providers play a crucial role in preventing errors and ensuring patient safety in these challenging environments. Among all types of medical malpractice, system-based failures in emergency and aftercare contexts are some of the most preventable, but also the most overlooked.
Hospital & Emergency Room Errors typically stem from breakdowns in triage, communication, or documentation. For example, a patient with signs of a pulmonary embolism may be misclassified during triage as a lower-risk case and left waiting while their condition deteriorates. Other common issues include administering the wrong medication in a crowded ER, discharging patients too early, or failing to communicate critical findings between departments. These environments demand constant vigilance, and lapses—no matter how small—can trigger catastrophic consequences. In some cases, when a major error occurs, the state medical board may take disciplinary action against the responsible provider to ensure accountability and maintain standards of care.
Failure to Provide Proper Emergency Care overlaps heavily with general ER errors but emphasizes missed opportunities for intervention. This includes failing to activate stroke protocols, neglecting to order timely imaging, or dismissing symptoms that should trigger urgent escalation. For example, if a young woman presents with chest pain and is sent home with a diagnosis of anxiety without ruling out cardiac causes such as heart disease, the legal repercussions can be severe if she suffers a heart attack hours later. Emergency care requires not just quick thinking, but disciplined use of protocols and risk stratification tools.
Failure to Provide Adequate Aftercare is a quieter but equally damaging form of malpractice. Aftercare includes discharge instructions, medication reconciliation, follow-up scheduling, wound care, and patient education. A typical example might involve a patient discharged after orthopedic surgery who isn’t advised on blood clot prevention and later suffers a deep vein thrombosis. Even if the surgery was successful, the lack of appropriate follow-up can lead to liability if harm occurs.
This topic is explored further in our piece on gross negligence vs. willful misconduct blog, in which the distinction between error and egregious oversight becomes critical.
Inadequate Infection Control is another major area, particularly in hospital settings. Patients recovering from surgery or those with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) such as MRSA, C. diff, or surgical site infections. If a provider or facility fails to follow hand hygiene protocols, improperly sterilizes instruments, or overlooks early signs of infection, the resulting complications can be life-threatening. Infection control is both a clinical and legal mandate, and failures in this area can lead to individual and institutional liability.
We write an entire blog on healthcare associated infections you can read right now!
Failure to Prevent Medical Errors may seem broad, but it often refers to the failure to enforce known safety systems. Whether it’s skipping timeout procedures before surgery, failing to cross-check high-risk medications, or not double-verifying blood products, these oversights are categorized as systemic malpractice. In most jurisdictions, providers are expected not just to avoid errors but to actively implement practices that reduce their likelihood.
Failure to Recognize Medical Emergencies—such as signs of sepsis, stroke, or internal bleeding—also fits within this category. These are cases where the window for intervention is short, and the consequences of delay can be irreversible. Even when symptoms are subtle, a failure to act on vital sign trends, abnormal labs, or escalating pain levels can result in claims that a provider ignored red flags.
Together, these failures highlight the importance of team-based protocols, timely escalation, and thorough discharge planning. For physicians practicing in hospitals or ERs, the legal risk doesn’t end when a patient leaves the room—it follows the entire trajectory of care, from first contact to final follow-up.
Informed consent is not just a formality—it’s a legal and ethical foundation of modern medical care. Patients have important legal rights to be fully informed and involved in decisions about their care. Failures in consent and patient communication are among the most preventable types of medical malpractice and often represent a breakdown in trust as much as in process. While some of these errors are procedural (such as missing paperwork), many are relational, rooted in how—or whether—providers truly engaged patients in shared decision-making.
Failure to Provide Informed Consent is a classic and frequently litigated form of malpractice. Legally, physicians must explain the nature of a procedure or treatment, its risks and benefits, available alternatives, and the likely outcome of no treatment. If a complication arises that the patient wasn’t warned about—and that a reasonable patient would have wanted to know—malpractice liability can follow, even if the procedure itself was technically sound. For example, if a patient undergoing spinal surgery suffers nerve damage and wasn’t informed this was a possible risk, they may sue for lack of informed consent rather than technical negligence. This type of claim often hinges on documentation: was the risk discussed, and is there written proof of that conversation? Failure to provide adequate informed consent may be considered malpractice under the law.
Failure to Consider Patient Preferences is a more subtle but increasingly recognized malpractice issue. Especially in primary care or chronic disease management, ignoring a patient’s values, cultural beliefs, or treatment goals can lead to poor adherence, avoidable harm, or emotional distress. Consider a palliative care case where a patient wants comfort-focused treatment, but the provider insists on aggressive intervention without clearly discussing the patient’s wishes. This disconnect doesn’t just erode trust—it can be the basis for legal complaints, particularly when the patient or their family believes their autonomy was violated.
Failure to Advise on Lifestyle Modifications may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of medical malpractice, but it’s an emerging area of liability—especially in preventive care. For example, if a provider manages a patient with hypertension and diabetes over several years without advising lifestyle interventions such as dietary changes, smoking cessation, or exercise, and the patient later suffers a preventable stroke or heart attack, the physician could be held partially liable for failing to practice comprehensive, guideline-directed care. While proving causation in these cases can be complex, they serve as a reminder that malpractice isn’t always about acute mistakes—it can also be about long-term omissions.
Together, these communication-related failures highlight a fundamental truth in healthcare: patients have the right to understand, participate in, and guide their care. When that right is bypassed—whether through oversight, assumption, or rushed encounters—the legal and clinical consequences can be significant. When communication or consent failures result in harm, patients may pursue legal action to hold providers accountable. Clear communication, cultural sensitivity, and complete documentation aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re malpractice safeguards.
Cases involving vulnerable populations—such as the elderly, individuals with disabilities, or those with limited mental capacity—often carry higher scrutiny in medical malpractice litigation. These patients depend heavily on their providers not just for clinical expertise, but also for advocacy, vigilance, and protection. Failures in this context often blur the line between medical error and abuse or neglect, and the legal repercussions can be especially severe when harm occurs in institutional settings. In many instances, victims or their families pursue medical negligence claims as a common legal avenue to seek accountability and compensation.
Nursing Home & Long-Term Care Malpractice includes a wide spectrum of issues ranging from medication errors and poor wound care to outright neglect or abuse. For example, if a resident develops a preventable pressure ulcer that progresses to sepsis due to inadequate repositioning or failure to monitor nutritional intake, liability may extend to attending physicians, facility staff, and administrators. Documentation is a key battleground in these cases—absent or vague progress notes can make it nearly impossible to defend care decisions in court. In cases where negligence is established, damages may include compensation for loss of future earnings, especially if the harm results in long-term disability or loss of independence.
Elder Abuse & Neglect, whether physical, emotional, or financial, is increasingly recognized as both a civil and criminal matter. Physicians who fail to report suspected abuse, or who don’t act on signs of neglect—such as unexplained bruising, sudden cognitive decline, or signs of dehydration—can face malpractice claims alongside mandated reporter violations. These situations often involve multiple actors and complex family dynamics, but the medical provider’s role as a gatekeeper for intervention is well-established in case law. Providers found responsible for abuse or neglect may also face disciplinary action, including suspension or revocation of their medical license.
Sexual Misconduct by a healthcare provider is among the most egregious and career-ending types of medical malpractice. Claims in this category can include improper touching during exams, inappropriate language, failure to maintain boundaries, or engaging in romantic relationships with patients. Beyond civil liability, providers may face loss of licensure and criminal charges. While these cases are thankfully rare, they attract intense legal and media attention and often result in multi-million-dollar settlements when proven.
Failure to Prevent or Address Abuse applies not just to active maltreatment, but also to passive enabling. If a physician is aware—or should be aware—of abuse occurring in a caregiving setting and fails to act, they may be named in civil suits. For example, a psychiatrist who hears credible threats from a caregiver during a therapy session but doesn’t report them, or a pediatrician who documents signs of neglect without escalating to social services, may be accused of breaching their duty of care.
Psychiatric Malpractice often centers on failures in risk assessment, medication management, or patient monitoring. These cases can involve suicide, violence, or wrongful involuntary commitment. For instance, discharging a patient from inpatient psychiatric care without a safety plan or failing to warn a known target of a violent threat could result in lawsuits under the “duty to protect” doctrine. The line between malpractice and systemic failure is especially thin in mental health, where resources may be stretched and documentation is often subjective.
Minority Healthcare Disparities are increasingly acknowledged as a malpractice concern, particularly when differential treatment based on race, language, or socioeconomic status leads to worse outcomes. While proving discrimination in a courtroom can be challenging, plaintiffs have successfully argued that providers ignored symptoms, delayed treatment, or failed to communicate clearly due to implicit bias. These cases highlight the legal risks of failing to deliver equitable care, and the growing expectation that physicians proactively address disparities arising from cultural diversity in healthcare.
Failure to Address Mental Health in Primary Care is another subtle but growing malpractice risk. Primary care physicians are often the first—and sometimes only—contact point for patients with depression, anxiety, or substance use disorders. If these conditions are ignored or mismanaged, and the patient experiences harm (e.g., overdose, suicide, inability to work), the provider could be held liable. Courts have increasingly recognized that mental health screening and appropriate referrals are part of the standard of care, not optional add-ons.
These malpractice types reinforce a crucial lesson: when caring for vulnerable populations, the standard of care includes heightened awareness, proactive safeguards, and a zero-tolerance approach to neglect. Legal responsibility extends beyond clinical outcomes to include the broader ethical and protective roles that physicians are expected to play.
As healthcare systems become more digitized and administratively complex, a growing share of medical malpractice cases now stem not from clinical decisions, but from failures in coordination, documentation, and digital workflows. These administrative and technology-related errors may not involve scalpel or stethoscope—but they can be just as dangerous and costly. Among the many types of medical malpractice, these are the most preventable yet increasingly common, especially in high-volume or tech-reliant practices.
Historically, early medical malpractice litigation often centered on cases involving 'unwholesome medicine,' where physicians were held accountable for providing harmful or questionable treatments. This set the stage for the modern concept of medical malpractice action.
Medical Fraud or Billing Errors can cross the line into malpractice when they result in patient harm or denial of necessary care. For example, if a patient is scheduled for unnecessary diagnostic imaging to boost billing revenue, and that exposure leads to injury (such as contrast-induced nephropathy), legal liability may follow. Conversely, if an insurer denies critical treatment because of an incorrectly coded diagnosis or authorization error, the physician could be held partially responsible for not ensuring administrative accuracy. Beyond the legal consequences, these situations can damage patient trust and invite regulatory scrutiny. In some instances, a medical malpractice action may be initiated if administrative errors directly result in patient harm.
Failure to Report Certain Conditions is another legal risk, particularly when public health reporting is required. Conditions like tuberculosis, child abuse, or certain sexually transmitted infections must be reported under state and federal law. A provider who fails to report—and whose omission leads to further transmission or injury—may face both malpractice and statutory penalties. These cases highlight the need for physicians to understand not just clinical guidelines, but also public health mandates and their professional duty to act beyond the exam room.
Failure to Provide Proper Documentation may seem like a bureaucratic issue, but in malpractice litigation, documentation is often the provider’s best (or only) defense. If a procedure is performed correctly but not recorded, or if a critical warning to a patient isn’t written down, the legal system may assume it never happened. Inconsistent, incomplete, or illegible records can quickly tilt a case against the provider. Courts place high value on complete, contemporaneous documentation not only as a record of care, but as evidence of professional diligence and foresight. Notably, some high-profile cases involving government or VA hospitals have been heard in federal court, especially when the claim involves patient rights or inadequate care.
Failure to Recognize Environmental Hazards can also result in malpractice claims, particularly in occupational medicine or community health contexts. Physicians who treat patients repeatedly exposed to mold, toxins, or hazardous workplace conditions but fail to make the connection—or neglect to document their suspicions—may be found negligent. This type of malpractice often involves long latency periods, but when a link is eventually made, plaintiffs can argue that earlier recognition would have prevented serious disease or injury.
Telemedicine Malpractice is one of the fastest-evolving areas of liability. As virtual care becomes more common, especially post-pandemic, the rules governing appropriate evaluation, documentation, and follow-up have not always kept pace. A typical scenario might involve a missed diagnosis during a video consult due to poor visual quality or a provider failing to recommend an in-person follow-up for symptoms that warranted physical examination. Questions of licensure, patient verification, and digital recordkeeping add layers of complexity to malpractice claims in this arena. While telemedicine offers incredible access and efficiency, it also requires new vigilance around boundaries, protocols, and documentation.
These administrative and technology-related malpractice claims underscore a crucial shift in modern medicine: errors don’t always happen in the exam room—they can just as easily happen behind a keyboard or in a billing department. As care becomes more team-based and data-driven, physicians must take ownership of the entire care ecosystem, including how that care is recorded, coded, and communicated.
Medical malpractice isn’t limited to surgical mishaps or headline-making lawsuits. As we’ve explored in this guide, the types of medical malpractice are broad, nuanced, and deeply embedded across every phase of patient care—from diagnostic decision-making and informed consent, to administrative systems and post-discharge follow-up. Some errors are clinical, others are systemic—but all carry the potential to cause harm, and therefore, legal exposure. Failing to prevent errors can result in a malpractice suit or a medical malpractice suit, which may lead to a medical malpractice settlement, a jury verdict, or even punitive damages, depending on the severity and circumstances of the case.
Whether you’re a physician in private practice, a hospital-based specialist, or part of a telemedicine group, the key takeaway is this: awareness is your first line of defense. Understanding where malpractice risks arise—especially the less obvious ones—enables you to better protect your patients, your license, and your livelihood.
If you’re concerned about your exposure in today’s complex healthcare environment, Indigo offers malpractice coverage that’s built for real-world risks. From high-risk specialties to evolving threats like telehealth and documentation errors, our policies are designed with your practice in mind.
Explore our medical malpractice coverage options and see how your policy stacks up. Because when it comes to protecting your career, knowledge is just the beginning—coverage matters too.
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