Medical malpractice is a medical mistake by a doctor, hospital, nurse, and other health care providers. All such licensed professionals are required under law to practice their specialty consistent with accepted standards of care. Legally, medical malpractice is defined as a deviation from the standard of care. One of the challenges in this type of litigation is to determine which standard of care applies to your individual situation. Consulting with experts in the relevant field will help in determining if your case has merit.