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Statute of Limitations

Actions must commence within two years of the act or omission causing the claim

Comparative or contributory negligence

Pure contributory negligence, the plaintiff's negligence may bar the action completely

Nature of accused's liability

Under the rule of joint and several liability, where more than one defendant is found liable for the injury, each defendant is individually liable for the entire amount, thu if one defendant is unable to pay the other defendant or defendants are liable for the entire amount

Law of contribution

Joint defendants have a right to contribution

Expert testimony standards

Expert witnesses must be licensed, and actively practising in the defendant's field

Limits on compensation

Virginia caps damages to $1.5 million, increased by $50,000 per year until 2006, and by $75,000 per year for 2007 and 2008

Limits on attorney fees

none

Collateral Source rule enforced

Under the collateral source rule, a defendant may not seek to reduce its liability by submitting evidence that the plaintiff has received compensation from other sources.

State and local health care providers immune from liabaility

Virginia has waived sovereignity in medical malpractice cases, with major limitations.

Select Your State

Select Your State

Select Your State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington State West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Medical malpractice law varies from state to state, the key areas of difference are as follows

• Statute of limitations
• The law of comparative or contributory negligence
• The nature of the accused's liability
• Law of contribution
• Standards for expert testimony
• Limitations on compensation
• Limitiations on attorney fees
• Whether collateral source law is in effect
• Are state health care providers immune from liability