When a medical professional commits an act of negligence, the results can leave their patient permanently scarred or disabled. Victims of medical malpractice often suffer severe injuries or experienced prolonged illnesses that should have been treated long ago had their medical provider done the right thing.
If you suffered an injury because of a medical professional’s negligence, you should consult our Richmond medical malpractice attorneys from Portner & Shure, P.A. Our experienced attorneys have spent more than 30 years litigating complex personal injury claims including medical malpractice. Our attorneys have a long track record of obtaining favorable settlements or judgments in cases that other law firms avoided due to their difficulty.
For a free consultation, call us at or contact us online. Our team can speak English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), and more for your convenience.
What Constitutes a Medical Malpractice?
According to Virginia Code § 8.01-581.1, a medical malpractice claim is defined as “any tort action or breach of contract action for personal injuries or wrongful death, based on health care or professional services rendered, or which should have been rendered, by a health care provider, to a patient.” What this means is that when a medical professional, e.g., a doctor, nurse, etc., provides medical treatment that falls below the acceptable standard of care, they might have committed medical malpractice if that action hurts a patient or fails to prevent further harm from an illness.
Medical malpractice can be difficult to define. This is because there are no written laws or codes that define the “standard of care” or whether an act fell below the standard of care. To define the “standard of care” and whether a medical professional’s actions fell below that standard, a medical professional that practices the same type of medicine is often required to act as an expert witness. For example, if a victim suffered an injury due to an error by a brain surgeon, another brain surgeon should testify in court as to what the “standard of care” is for brain surgeons and how the actions performed by the at-fault brain surgeon were negligent. Medical malpractice cases essentially become a contest of expertise and believability between doctors in court.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice Claims
Most medical malpractice claims that can stand up to scrutiny are based on egregious mistakes by medical professionals that cause severe injuries or death.
Medical malpractice claims also commonly involve:
- Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis
- Failure to provide informed consent, such as not informing a patient of potential risks or not informing a patient of a safer course of action
- Surgical errors, such as leaving a foreign object in the patient’s body or cutting the wrong organ
- Anesthesia errors, such as administering excessive amounts of anesthesia during surgery or failing to recognize possibly lethal drug interactions
- Incorrect medication prescription or prescribing a lethal combination of drugs
Damages Available in a Medical Malpractice Claim
Instances of medical malpractice often cause victims to suffer severe, painful, and permanent injuries. In some cases, victims are left permanently disabled and disfigured.
Medical malpractice victims often require expensive future medical care and corrective surgery to try to undo some of the harm caused by the negligent medical provider. Many victims are unable to resume working, too, which deepens their financial struggles.
Virginia law permits a medical malpractice victim to claim economic and non-economic damages:
- Past medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Past lost wages
- Future lost wages
- Pain and suffering
What to Know About Medical Malpractice Litigation
Medical malpractice cases are notoriously difficult to win. Many courts and legal professionals would say that winning a medical malpractice case without the assistance of an attorney who is well-versed in the law is all but impossible. The challenges arise from the intense defenses that insurance companies and medical groups put up, as well as the complexities of medical malpractice liability law. If a single piece of evidence does not line up and prove that a doctor acted negligently, then the entire case can unravel.
To get your case moving and to have confidence about your chances if you enter litigation, you will want to work with a highly experienced Richmond medical malpractice attorney, like those you can find at Portner & Shure, P.A. Our award-winning attorneys routinely litigate complex personal injury cases against the defense attorneys that medical malpractice insurance carriers retain or keep on staff in their legal departments. They know who we are and what we are capable of in court. They know we are not easily intimidated. They know that we have a track record of obtaining favorable results against steep odds.
