Nevada Revised Statutes define medical malpractice: “Professional negligence” means the failure of a provider of health care, in rendering services, to use the reasonable care, skill or knowledge ordinarily used under similar circumstances by similarly trained and experienced providers of health care."

 

"New research estimates up to 440,000 Americans are dying annually from preventable hospital errors. This puts medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the United States, underscoring the need for patients to protect themselves and their families from harm, and for hospitals to make patient safety a priority." This statistic is cited by hospitalsafetyscore.com and elsewhere (such as NPR), although the number of deaths is reported at 251,000. The bottom line is, it's far too common, although every type of error is not malpractice.