A medical doctor is performing surgery on a patient and accidentally causes damage to an organ due to a deviation from accepted surgical procedures. When determining whether the doctor breached the standard of care, how is the standard applied in this case?
The doctor is evaluated based on the result of the surgery.
The doctor is held to the standard of care of a reasonably prudent layperson.
The doctor is held to the standard of an ordinary member of their profession practicing under similar circumstances.
The doctor is held to the specific level of skill and training expected of them in their field.
The standard of care for a professional, such as a medical doctor, is measured against the knowledge, skill, and care that an ordinary member of the same profession, practicing under similar circumstances, would demonstrate. Professionals are judged based on a peer standard rather than that of a lay person. This approach ensures that specialized knowledge, training, and expertise are properly accounted for. The other responses are incorrect because they apply standards that either fail to account for the specialized nature of a profession, rely on subjective measures that are not applicable in determining liability, or focus too narrowly on outcomes, which do not adequately reflect the relevant standard of care.
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