It is different than a criminal action, which involves a breach of duty owed to society at large. It is possible that actions are both tors and crimes; but only the state may prosecute a crime, but any injured party may bring a lawsuit against another as a tort ruling. There are a number of different torts; ranging from assault to negligence, all with foundations in the common law tradition (Van Gerven, 2001). One business tort example is called Ultrahazordous Activity. This tort asserts that there is something so inherently dangerous that a person engaged in that activity can be held liable for any injuries caused to anyone else; even if the person or organization took every reasonable precaution to prevent injury. For instance, a hypothetical company called Xenon might be transporting explosive materials from California to a job site in Colorado via railroad. They have taken precautions, but during a storm, the train bumps so that an explosion occurs; damaging property and killing people. Xenon is liable under tort law because of the relative possibility of harm, seriousness of the explosives, possibility of an explosion, and the level of risk (Sgroi, 1996, 408-13).

Malpractice is another quite frequently applied tort. In law it is a type of negligence in which the professional has a singular duty to act, fails to follow the generally accepted practices of the profession and, through breach of duty, causes harm. In medicine, for instance, if a surgeon willingly "forgets" a piece of equipment (say a stint, needle, or even bandage) during surgery, the patient is sewn up, and later develops sepsis...

Of course, there are various complexities when dealing with medical malpractice, since it is not always an easy "yes this happened to cause harm," due to the complexity of the human body and a myriad of other mitigating factors (McClellan, 1994).
REFERENCES

Financials - Merck. (2010, January). Retrieved February 2011, from 2009 Annual Report: http://www.merck.com/investors/financials/home.html#

Horton, R. (1995-96, January). Vioxx, the Implowion of Merck, and Sftershocks at the FDA. Retrieved February 2011, from the Lancet: http://image.thelancet.com/extras/04cmt396web.pdf

McClellan, F. (1994). Medical Malpractice: Law, tactics and ethics. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Reuters. (2006, December 7). Merck Sees Slightly Higher 2007 Earnings. Retrieved February 2011, from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/business/07drug.html?ex=1323147600&en=19d27b5814f1c1e8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Sgroi, a. a. (1996). Understaning Law in a Changing Society. New York: Prentice Hall.

Van Gerven, W. (Ed.). (2001). Cases, Materials and Text on National, Supranational and International Tort Law. New York: Oxford hart.

Vassar, R. (2007, November 12). The Vioxx Settlment - a leson in Corporate Risk Management. Retrieved February 2011, from BC Magazine Science Tech: http://blogcritics.org/scitech/article/the-vioxx-settlement-a-lesson-in/page-2/