WHAT IS “STANDARD OF CARE” ALL ABOUT?

The standard of care holds the medical professional to that specific behavior that would be expected of a reasonable person possessing the same or similar skills or knowledge under similar circumstances. In medical malpractice cases, the doctor’s actions must be measured against those expected of other similar doctors. It is often inferred that similar doctors means a doctor in the same medical specialty.

Does that mean that there is only one standard of care in a given medical situation? Not at all. There may be more than one appropriate standard of care. Further, there may be standards of care that are less frequently employed, but that are perfectly appropriate in a given situation. In fact, the defendant physician may not be held to a single or even a majority standard of care.  For example, adjuvant chemotherapy for lung cancer is "a new standard of care, but not necessarily the only standard of care." (New England Journal of Medicine, 2004).

This is one reason why the medical expert is indispensable – to sort through the various applicable standards of care and determine what was/not appropriate for that specific medical situation. In most medical malpractice cases, both the standard of care and its breach are established through the testimony of expert witnesses.

In another session, we will discuss what it means to breach or depart from a standard of care.