Medical malpractice law is form of tort law designed to offer a remedy to patient who suffers an injury from an act or omission by a health care provider, which deviates from accepted standards of practice in the medical community. Medical malpractice is professional negligence (by a healthcare provider) that causes an injury. Examples of medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnosis of, or failure to diagnose, a disease or medical condition;
• Failure to provide appropriate treatment for a medical condition;
• Unreasonable delay in treating a diagnosed medical condition;

An injured patient can bring a medical malpractice action against any responsible licensed health care provider, including doctors, counselors, psychologists and psychotherapists.

Medical malpractice law is a highly technical field of law, and malpractice lawsuits tend to be fiercely defended by well-funded defense firms. Even within the specialized practice of medical malpractice law, some lawyers have subspecialties of practice, for example focusing on surgical errors, misdiagnosis, or birth trauma cases.

Medical malpractice lawsuits can be very expensive to pursue. Significant technical skills may be needed in prosecuting a malpractice claim. This creates a risk that an inexperienced lawyer may not be sufficiently conversant with the medical issues, or might make a technical error, which causes a case to be lost or dismissed. In addition, substantial costs may need to be incurred to prepare for the malpractice prosecution. About 69 medical malpractice attorneys practice in Montana.

In Montana, medical malpractice actions alleging personal injury or wrongful death must be brought within three years from the date of injury or from the date when the claimant discovered (or with the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered) the injury. In no event may an action be brought after five years from the date the injury was incurred.

Montana law is in flux because the legislature has passed alternative versions of its statutes on comparative negligence, joint and several liability, and related subjects, effective for causes of action that arise on or after April 18, 1997.

With rare exceptions, expert testimony is required to establish a cause of action for medical malpractice.

Since October 1, 1995 , there has been a limit of $250,000 on the non-economic damages a claimant can recover. Non-economic damages include, but are not limited to, physical and mental pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship or consortium, and injury to reputation or humiliation.

There is no Montana statutory provision that limits attorneys' fees in medical malpractice actions.