A 68-year-old male underwent an elective total knee arthroplasty at a community hospital in Ontario. The procedure was performed by an attending orthopedic surgeon with the assistance of a senior surgical resident. During the procedure, specific attention was paid to the identification and protection of the common peroneal nerve. Postoperatively, the patient developed a foot drop, which was subsequently attributed to neuropraxia of the common peroneal nerve. The patient initiated a civil claim alleging surgical negligence. During the discovery process, the operative note, dictated by the senior resident and reviewed by the attending surgeon, was found to be a templated report that comprehensively described the surgical steps but contained no specific mention of the intraoperative measures taken to identify or protect the common peroneal nerve. Despite the surgeon's recollection of these precautions, expert medical witnesses reviewing the documentation found it challenging to definitively ascertain that the standard of care regarding nerve protection had been met. Which of the following best describes the primary medico-legal implication of this scenario?