Sometimes, outcomes in surgeries and other health care procedures are unfavorable. Just because a patient did not get a satisfactory result or a disease or illness did not respond to treatment does not necessarily mean the patient has a medical malpractice claim. To establish medical malpractice, the patient must first establish the proper standard of care in his or her case. The patient must then show that the doctor failed to deliver that standard of care.
Standard of care is defined as the level of care a doctor in the same discipline and in the same geographical region would have delivered in similar circumstances.
For example, it’s not fair to compare the actions of an orthopedic surgeon to those of a pediatrician. These are specialty areas, and these types of physicians are skilled in diagnosing disease and treating conditions in specific areas of the body or in specific types of patients. Similarly, you would not compare the treatment provided by a doctor in Los Angeles with that of a doctor in a remote part of Alaska.
Reasonable care does not mean perfect care. It’s an important difference, and one that courts examine closely. No doctor can provide perfect, risk-free care. However, some risks and complications should never happen under any circumstances.