Laws vary from state to state, but the elements of a health care liability claim for medical malpractice or medical negligence are generally:

• a physician or health care provider is a defendant;

• the claim or claims at issue concern treatment, lack of treatment, or a departure from accepted standards of medical care or health care, or safety, professional, or administrative services directly related to health care;

• the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care;

• the defendant breached its duty of care by not meeting the required standard of care; and

• the defendant’s act or omission proximately caused the plaintiff’s injury (was the primary cause of the injury).

In Iowa, medical malpractice claims are governed by both state statutes and case law. To establish a medical malpractice claim in Iowa, the following elements must be proven: (1) the existence of a physician-patient or health care provider-patient relationship, establishing a duty of care; (2) the health care provider's failure to adhere to the accepted standard of care in the medical community; (3) a breach of this duty of care; and (4) a causal connection between the breach and the patient's injury. Additionally, Iowa law requires that before a lawsuit is filed, the claim must be reviewed by a medical review panel unless the parties agree to waive this step. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in Iowa is generally two years from the date the injury was discovered, or reasonably should have been discovered, but no more than six years from the date of the act or omission. There are also caps on non-economic damages in Iowa, limiting the amount a plaintiff can recover for pain and suffering and other non-monetary losses.