Virginia

  • Read more: Sovereign Immunity Protects State-Owned Hospitals and Medical Personnel Against Malpractice Suits
    Article

    Sovereign Immunity Protects State-Owned Hospitals and Medical Personnel Against Malpractice Suits

    By Alex Stein Pike v. Hagaman, — S.E.2d —- 2016 WL 3097727 (Va. 2016), is a must-read for anyone interested in medical malpractice and health law. This new decision of the Virginia Supreme Court grants state-owned hospitals and their personnel categorical sovereign-immunity protection against medical malpractice suits.

  • Read more: The “Common Knowledge” Exception to the Expert Requirement in Medical Malpractice Actions under FTCA Categorized as “Substantive”
    Article

    The “Common Knowledge” Exception to the Expert Requirement in Medical Malpractice Actions under FTCA Categorized as “Substantive”

    By Alex Stein All expert requirements for medical malpractice actions (including merit certificates and affidavits) are categorized as “substantive” rather than “procedural” under both Erie (in diversity suits) and the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). See here and here. The Fifth Circuit recently ruled in connection with a medical malpractice suit filed under FTCA that the…

  • Read more: The Scope of Virginia’s Birth–Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program
    Article

    The Scope of Virginia’s Birth–Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program

    By Alex Stein Virginia’s Birth–Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act of 1987 (BRNICA) affords aggrieved patients a no-fault compensation remedy for qualified injuries while giving potential tort defendants – doctors and hospitals who choose to participate in the Birth–Related Neurological Injury Compensation Fund – an absolute immunity from malpractice liability. Va. Code Ann. § 38.2-5002. For a…