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 Wyoming, the elements of a health care liability claim for medical malpractice or negligence are consistent with the general outline provided. A plaintiff must establish that a physician or health care provider, who is the defendant, had a duty of care towards the plaintiff. The claim must be related to the treatment, lack of treatment, or a deviation from the accepted standards of medical or health care, or related safety or administrative services. The plaintiff must demonstrate that the health care provider breached this duty by failing to meet the standard of care expected of such professionals. Finally, it must be shown that this breach was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury, meaning it was the primary cause. Wyoming follows the doctrine of modified comparative negligence, which allows a plaintiff to recover damages only if their fault is not greater than the defendant's. Additionally, Wyoming has a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, which is adjusted periodically for inflation.