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U.S. District Judge Says Court Costs Are Not Included in Virginia’s Med Mal Cap
A U.S. district judge has allowed a plaintiff to tack on court costs to his medical malpractice award, even though it would exceed Virginia’s statutory cap. Read this article to learn more about this Virginia medical malpractice case. »
New Claims Allowed After Virginia Medical Malpractice Plaintiff Files Nonsuit
A federal judge was correct in allowing a Virginia medical malpractice plaintiff to add new claims to her suit. The plaintiff had filed a nonsuit under a longstanding Virginia law. »
Virginia Tort Reform Robs Another Family
A recent medical malpractice verdict in Fairfax County, Virginia, shows how Virginia’s version of “tort reform” steals from families. According to news reports, Hector Alvarez, a 52 year old husband and father, went to Inova HealthPlex in Springfield in July 2006. Earlier in the day he had eaten a steak and was now complaining... »
Delays, Delays, Delays…
Insurance companies make a ton of money by delaying everything. They delay paying the bill you submit, hiding behind the “we need more information” umbrella. They delay responding to legitimate requests to settle meritorious malpractice cases. In one case it took a surgeon’s insurance company months to respond to a demand when the doctor... »
Hospital Seeks to Have Blog Post Removed…Judge Says “no way”
Here is a very interesting transcript of a recent court hearing involving a hospital in Virginia. We have previously blogged about this case and have received a letter as well asking us to remove the blog post. Lest there be no mistake about what actually happened, including the fact that the hospital’s attorney has... »
Should Hospitals Be Required to Produce Incident Reports?
What happens when a record made by a hospital is claimed to be privileged? Is it important to justice that all facts about an incident see the light of day in order that justice be completed? Here is a very interesting transcript that is wealth worth the read and will give you an “insider’s... »
Remarkable Attempt by Sentara Obici Hospitals to Play “Hide the Ball”
Newport News attorney Avery Waterman has described a shocking attempt by Sentara Obici Hospital to hide critical information in a wrongful death lawsuit. Avery represents the family of a woman who “mysteriously” bled to death in July 2008. In the medical malpractice lawsuit Waterman sought the “incident report” that contained facts surrounding the patient’s... »
MedMal Numbers Skewed In List Of 2009′s Largest Verdicts
Virginia Lawyers Weekly released their Virginia’s Largest Verdicts list for 2009 recently. Medical malpractice cases were represented at spots number 4, 5, 9, 11, 13,15, and 20. The “amount” numbers for the medical malpractice are somewhat skewed, however, due to Virginia’s current medical malpractice cap. The cap statute reads: “In any verdict returned against... »
Delay In Treatment Leads to Heart Attack
A patient suffering from acute chest pain, diaphoresis (heavy sweating associated with physical distress), and pain radiating to the left arm with numbess. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital where he later suffered a myocardial infarction (heart attack). Despite the fact that catheterization was called for by the EMT the patient did... »
Drug-Trafficking Doctor Found Liable In Patient Death
Dr. William E. Hurwitz, of 2004 Federal drug-trafficking trial fame, was the defendant in a recent civil suit out of Prince William County. Dr. Hurwitz agreed to pay the Estate of Mary Nyea the sum of $225,000. Nye was a patient of Hurwitz before his incarceration in 2003. Nye was being treated for pain... »