ED Legal Letter – December 1, 2003
December 1, 2003
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Standard of care: Does it exist in every malpractice case?
Trepidation about litigation among emergency practitioners is a significant concern. Every patient encounter presents the chance for an adverse outcome. The standard of care is defined by experts as a well-established, set path with only one logical approach and outcome; in reality, the standard of care may be a tortuous path with many choices that may lead to dissimilar conclusions. This issue of ED Legal Letter outlines the problems with determining the standard of care and how courts will interpret the standard of care.