What Does the Medical Profession Mean by "Standard of Care?"

[Rich66]

Interesting discussion. Me thinks the concept gets stretched at times in cancer world..where "standard of care" may not offer much care at all.
On the other hand, it was helpful me to hear the phrase when mom was getting a surgery consult and the surgeon was considering skipping a node biopsy. This didn't match with what I had read. I asked someone at ACS and they said it wasn't standard of care. That gave me the courage to confront the surgeon.