Don’t make the mistake of believing that this Virginia medical malpractice lawsuit is isolated – there are many more like it where the victims are robbed by the med mal cap, including the cases of Hector Alvarez and Rita Talbert.

Medical malpractice plaintiffs end up becoming victims twice.  They are first victimized by the negligence of their medical providers, but then they become victims again when their compensation is limited.

Liability caps are impacting the people who are hurt by medical malpractice and their family members. It is so frustrating to hear about cases where a jury decided, based on the evidence and arguments presented, what amount should be awarded, only to have the amount often cut in half.

You can read more about Virginia medical malpractice lawsuits in Ben Glass’s book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

This case began when Wendell Waggener was treated by Dr. Steven J. Oltermann, who allegedly failed to diagnose a colonic obstruction in a timely manner and perform emergency surgery.  Waggener sued Oltermann and his employer, Northern Neck Surgical Services.  The jury awarded Waggener $2 million, which was reduced to $1.8 million because of the damages cap.

The defendant objected to Waggener’s request for the court costs, because the judgment would exceed the limit on medical malpractice damages.  Payne didn’t see it that way.  He said that no matter how the issue was presented, federal courts have consistently held that taxing costs is an issue of federal procedure and not state substantive law.  The judge said that the federal cases brought up by the defendant didn’t address the administrative matter of taxation of costs.

This issue was a new one for the plaintiff’s attorney, Jonathan M. Petty.  He said he couldn’t find any federal or state court opinions regarding the taxation of costs.

Michael died at home in his bed and the medical examiner determined that his cause of death was an accidental overdose.  Seattle Children’s Hospital admitted that it made an error and apologized.  The hospital also said that it has changed its procedures.

Michael’s mother, Tammy Jarbo-Blankenship, had a valid point when she said that Michael shouldn’t have had to die for the hospital to put safeguards in place to make sure this type of situation doesn’t happen.

The tragic case of Michael Blankenship makes one think about all the debate over tort reform. Basically, national tort reform would tell the Blankenship family “tough luck.”    People have made the argument about the government imposing a “cap” on medical malpractice damages.  Should the government decide how much Michael’s life was worth without knowing the details about this young boy or his family?  It should be left up to a jury to make this decision.