ABSTRACT
Several US states have in legislation defined acceptable standards of clinical care by reference to practice guidelines. Those guidelines help to establish a strategy for reducing healthcare costs while maintaining quality. Of these states, Maine and Florida have actually developed, implemented, and completed demonstration projects that test the strategy, allowing CPGs to be used as an affirmative defence in medical malpractice litigation. An affirmative defence is a ‘defendant’s assertion … that, if true, will defeat the plaintiff’s or prosecution’s claim, even if all allegations in the complaint are true’.7
