What is the “Standard of Care” in a Medical Malpractice Case?

The law of medical malpractice in the United States is controlled by the 50 individual states, not the federal government. Medical malpractice cases are civil cases, in which the injured party (the plaintiff) seeks monetary compensation from the doctor, other medical practitioner, or facility for personal injuries related to professional negligence. It is the obligation of the injured patient, or their family, to prove that substandard medical care resulted in an injury.

How Is “Standard of Care” Defined

At the heart of a medical malpractice case is a benchmark called the “standard of care”—that determines whether the care provided was substandard. Standard of care refers to the level and type of care that a reasonably competent healthcare professional, with similar training and experience, would provide under comparable circumstances. Each state has enacted its own laws defining standard of care, but in essence it all boils down to what a typical, prudent doctor would do in this situation. The state of Washington was the first to pass this type of legislation, when they stated that the standard of care is not met when “the defendant or defendants [fail] to exercise that degree of skill, care and learning possessed by other persons in the same profession…”

The Standard of Care: Legal History and Definitions: the Bad and Good News

This standard of care is not fixed—it evolves with advances in medical knowledge and technology— and can be established by published practice policies, guidelines, and procedures. For instance, a treatment considered appropriate twenty years ago may no longer meet today’s standard if new research shows alternative treatment is appropriate.

Source: A Primer to Understanding the Elements of Medical Malpractice

How Do Courts Determine the Standard of Care?

For any medical malpractice claim to proceed, the first question is always whether the healthcare provider breached the standard of care. To answer this, courts typically allow evidence to allow the jury to make this decision based on admissible evidence. The type of evidence includes 1) professional policies, procedures guidelines (hospitals have policies and procedures, and medical associations and specialty boards publish guidelines of accepted practices), 2) expert testimony (qualified medical experts are permitted to state their opinions testimony explain what a competent practitioner would have done in the same situation, and 3) the specific facts and circumstances (such as the patient’s condition, available resources, and the urgency of the situation all affect what is considered reasonable).

That said, the concept of standard of care is flexible and always depends on the facts. For example, an emergency room physician treating a trauma patient with little time and information is held to a different standard than a specialist treating a similar condition in a scheduled surgery. The Restatement (Second) of Torts § 299A, a key legal authority, defines the professional standard as “the skill and knowledge normally possessed by members of that profession in good standing”.

Source: Restatement (2d.) § 299A Undertaking in Profession or Trade

The Elements of a Medical Malpractice Case: Duty, Breach, Causation and Damages

Proving malpractice is not every mistake made by a doctor. The plaintiff must establish four elements to prove a case:

1. Duty – The physician owed a duty of care to the patient.
2. Breach – The physician failed to meet the standard of care.
3. Causation– The breach directly caused, or in some states increased the risk, of medical negligence injury or harm.
4. Damages – The patient suffered measurable losses (physical, emotional, or financial).

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice case must prove the breach of the standard of care. A bad outcome is not necessarily malpractice. For example, sometimes terrible consequences result due to surgery even if the best possible care has been provided, because that result is a risk of the surgery and can occur absent any negligence.

Source: The Standard of Care: Legal History and Definitions: the Bad and Good News

Why the Standard of Care Matters

The standard of care protects both patients and medical professionals. It ensures physician and hospitals be  accountable, and justice for patients, when negligence causes injury, and also prevents unfair punishment for unavoidable outcomes.

CPR Resources to Prove Standard of Care

The medical malpractice lawyers at CPR have many years of experience and a long history of outstanding results in representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. We work with top physicians in every conceivable medical specialty across the United States to determine whether a breach of the standard of care caused our clients’ injuries. Our lawyers have the knowledge, background and access to resources to fully investigate and prove any claim of medical negligence.