The term 'locking the stable after the horse has bolted' certainly applies to medical malpractice suits. Suing a medical practitioner for malpractice can, by definition, only happen after actual damage has been inflicted. Legally speaking, medical malpractice is a rather vast concept. However, the baseline definition includes areas such as wrongfully administered medical treatment, damages arising from a doctor's incompetence, and the resulting loss in terms of wellbeing and finance for the patient.

Derived from the Latin term 'mala praxis', medical malpractice is a legal area that holds the treating doctor responsible for deviating from accepted norms of medical practice by failure to ensure proper treatment parameters. A patient, while under treatment, is more or less a helpless spectator to the process and has no real control over it. Loss of health and finance resulting from incompetence or maliciously administered wrong treatment therefore puts a high degree of accountability on the treating physician. Medical malpractice lawyers specialize in zeroing in on this accountability factor and claiming damages for affected patients.

Malpractice claims depend on the nature of the event in question. Plain negligence on the part of the treating physician, though a serious matter, would probably not be dealt with as harshly in a court of law as wrongful treatment (via administration of medicine, surgery or other therapeutic measures). Problems arising out of a physician's incompetence or ignorance would entail a civil suit, while deliberate malice, if proven, would result in criminal charges against the doctor - and significantly greater restitution in damages for the patient. A good malpractice lawyer will evaluate a client's claim and attempt to secure the highest amount in damages from the offending medical practitioner.