Editorial Standards and Review Policy

Primary Legal Sources We Rely On

All substantive legal propositions on this site are based exclusively on primary legal sources. We verify every statutory citation, every case citation, and every procedural rule against its original primary source before publishing.

Federal law sources

• US Code (uscode.house.gov and cornell.edu/uscode)
• Code of Federal Regulations (ecfr.gov)
• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence (uscourts.gov)
• US Supreme Court decisions (supremecourt.gov)
• Federal circuit and district court decisions (PACER, Google Scholar)
• Congressional Research Service reports

State law sources — verified by state

• State statutes: official state legislature websites for each of the 50 states and DC
• State case law: official state court websites, Google Scholar state case law, and primary reporter citations
• State court rules: official state court websites
• State bar rules: state bar ethics and professional conduct websites

Clinical and regulatory sources

• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines
• American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association guidelines
• American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) policy statements
• American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) standards and guidelines
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• The Joint Commission standards and sentinel event policies
• Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)
• National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) annual reports

YMYL Content Standards

Medical malpractice information is YMYL content — content that Google and responsible publishers recognize as requiring the highest standards of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness because it could significantly affect the reader's legal rights, financial position, or physical wellbeing.

For YMYL content, we apply these additional standards:

Expert authorship

Every YMYL content page is reviewed by a licensed attorney or board-certified physician before publication. We do not publish content that no qualified professional has reviewed.

No invented authority

We do not fabricate statistics, invent case outcomes, cite non-existent judgments, or attribute positions to courts, agencies, or organizations without verification against primary sources. Every statistic cited on this site is sourced to a named primary or official source.

No AI-generated unreviewed content

Any use of AI assistance in drafting is treated as raw material requiring full professional review before publication. We do not publish AI-generated content as if it were professionally reviewed legal guidance.

Prominent information-only disclaimer

Every page carries a clear statement that the content is general information only and does not constitute legal advice. This statement appears in the site header and in the footer of every page.

Last reviewed dating

Every YMYL page carries a last reviewed date and the name of the reviewing professional. This is not decorative — it reflects genuine review by the named individual.

50-State Accuracy Standards

The most significant failure mode in US malpractice information is applying one state's rules as if they were universal. They are not.

Texas's 10-year absolute repose applies even to minors — a rule that would be shocking and harmful if misapplied to a Texas birth injury family who believed they had until age 21 (as in most states). Ohio's 1-year limitations period is one of the shortest in the country and catches families off guard who assume the more common 2-year rule applies. Florida's NICA program bars tort lawsuits for certain birth injuries — a rule with no equivalent in any other state.

Our 50-state accuracy standards require:

Explicit state labeling

Every piece of state-specific information is labeled with the state to which it applies. We do not write “in most states” when we mean “in some states” or “in one state.”

State-admitted reviewer verification

For pages with jurisdiction-specific content, a reviewer admitted to the bar of the relevant state confirms accuracy before publication and after any legislative or judicial change.

No default-to-federal assumption

Federal malpractice law (the FTCA) applies only to claims against federal healthcare providers — not to all malpractice. We never apply FTCA rules to state hospital claims or vice versa.

Separate treatment of damage cap status

The constitutional status of state damage caps is volatile — multiple states' caps have been struck down in the past 15 years. We track cap status and update immediately when caps are struck down or amended.

Review Cycle

Scheduled reviews

Every page is reviewed on a minimum annual cycle. The Content Review Log at /last-reviewed records the date and reviewer for every review.

Triggered reviews

The following events trigger an immediate out-of-cycle review of affected pages:

• A US Supreme Court or federal circuit court decision materially affecting malpractice law or the FTCA.
• A state supreme court decision striking down or amending a damage cap, altering the statute of limitations, or changing expert witness qualification rules.
• An amendment to any state malpractice statute or procedural rule referenced on this site.
• A significant change in how any state calculates future loss multipliers or present-value discount rates.
• An amendment to any federal statute affecting VA malpractice claims, FTCA procedure, or EMTALA.
• A change in The Joint Commission's sentinel event policy or never events list.
• Identification of a material error in any page by staff, a reader, or a professional reviewer.

What triggers a “Changes Made” entry

Any review that results in a material change to the legal information — updating a statutory citation, revising a state cap figure, correcting a procedural requirement — results in a “Changes Made” note in the Review Log. A review that confirms content remains accurate results in an updated “Last Reviewed” date with a “No material changes — content confirmed current” notation.

Corrections Policy

We are committed to correcting errors promptly and transparently.

If we identify an error

We correct it immediately on identification. If the error was material — it conveyed incorrect legal information that could have affected a reader's understanding of their rights — we note the correction in the Content Review Log with a brief description of what changed.

If a reader identifies an error

We welcome corrections from licensed attorneys, board-certified physicians, and other qualified readers. If you believe a page contains a legal error, please contact us (see below) with: the specific page URL; the passage you believe is incorrect; and the primary US legal source (statute, case citation, or regulatory text) supporting the correct position. We will review the submission and respond within ten business days.

We do not make corrections based on opinion or preference — only on demonstrable divergence from primary legal sources. We do not alter content at the request of any commercial or advertising partner.

What We Do Not Do

Provide legal advice

No content on this site constitutes legal advice for any specific situation. We provide general information about US malpractice law.

Create an attorney-client relationship

Reading this site does not create any professional relationship between the reader and any attorney. No attorney-client privilege attaches to information submitted through this site.

Operate an attorney referral service (at present)

This site currently does not operate a paid referral service or recommend specific attorneys in exchange for compensation. We provide guidance on finding attorneys through state bar referral services and organizations such as the American Association for Justice.

Guarantee outcomes

Nothing on this site predicts or guarantees any outcome in any individual malpractice case. Every case is fact-specific.

Publish statistics without sources

Every statistic on this site is sourced to a named primary or official source. We do not estimate or fabricate figures.

Treat one state's law as universal

We never write “in the US” when we mean “in [specific state],” and we never apply a single state's rules to all 50 states without explicit qualification.

Contact Us About Content

If you have identified a legal error, an outdated statutory reference, a struck-down damage cap that has not been updated, a broken source link, or any other content issue, please contact us:

TODO: client to supply contact email or contact form URL.

We acknowledge all content-related correspondence within three business days and provide a substantive response within ten business days.