Medical malpractice awards refer to compensation received for injuries sustained from doctors or medical professional's negligence. Malpractice suits contend that mistakes made in their healthcare, including misdiagnosis, mistreatment, or other types of negligence have led to other injuries or illness. While not all errors in medical care are malpractice and no award for damages can be obtained, malpractice cases must still be investigated to determine negligibility. Most medical malpractice cases that are awarded monetary judgments are related to one of five diseases, they are breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, heart attack and appendicitis. Typically, the main cause for malpractice is a type of misdiagnosis, either delayed diagnosis or negligence in diagnostic testing that leads to a delay in treatment, complications that could have been avoided or death. Medical malpractice cases must be started before the statute of limitations of runs out, which varies from state to state. Once litigation has started, the second obstacle in a medical malpractice case is proving the malpractice is due to negligence. There are inherent risks involved in medical care that makes some medical malpractice cases hard to prove. The injury or illness may be considered to be in the realm of the standards of care. A medical malpractice claim should be assessed by a qualified attorney.