A doctor is charged with providing their patient with care that may improve the patient's health. While not all medical conditions can be healed fully and some medical conditions are not treatable, a doctor should take the time to explore the possible causes of their patient's discomfort and seek therapies, medications, and other treatments to improve their quality of life. A doctor who fails to uphold their duties to those under their care may be liable for medical malpractice.

The line between medical malpractice and challenging medical cases may be thin. That is to say, in situations where a California patient dies under the care of a doctor or medical team, that death may not necessarily be due to the doctor's negligence. In some situations medical professionals may exercise competent and complete care and may still be unable to save a patient's life.

However, medical deaths that are preventable may be wrongful. Therefore, when a death occurs while the victim is under the treatment of a medical professional, it may serve the interests of the victim's surviving relatives to investigate why the death happened, what could have been done to prevent it and what legal rights they may have to seek compensation for their losses.

Wrongful deaths in the medical field can arise from many forms of malpractice, including but not limited to surgical errors, medication mistakes and misdiagnoses. While the losses sustained when a loved one dies due to medical malpractice may be emotionally devastating, financial support may be recoverable to help families move their lives forward after medical malpractice tragedies.