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 Maine, medical malpractice claims are governed by Title 24 of the Maine Revised Statutes, specifically the Maine Health Security Act. The elements of a medical malpractice claim in Maine align with the general outline provided: (1) the defendant must be a physician or health care provider; (2) the claim must involve treatment, lack of treatment, or a deviation from the accepted standards of medical care, health care, or related safety or administrative services; (3) the health care provider must have owed a duty of care to the plaintiff; (4) the provider breached this duty by failing to meet the standard of care; and (5) the breach of duty must have been the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury. In Maine, the standard of care is typically determined by what a reasonably competent health care provider would do under similar circumstances. Additionally, Maine law requires that before a medical malpractice lawsuit can proceed, the claim must be presented to a pre-litigation screening panel unless all parties agree to bypass this step. The panel's findings are admissible in any subsequent court proceedings, but they are not binding.