January 24, 2025

Medical Malpractice, Doctor Mistakes, & Surgical Errors in VA

Medical Malpractice Lawyer Virginia Beach

You went to the doctor because you weren’t feeling well. That doctor recommended surgery at a Virginia hospital, which was supposed to fix the problem. Unfortunately, something went wrong during surgery that made your condition worse.

You had to undergo additional surgeries to resolve that issue, and now you’re facing mounting medical bills, extensive rehabilitation, and chronic pain. Even more disappointing—you believe all this occurred because your doctor failed to live up to an accepted medical standard of care.

Suffering harm at the hands of a healthcare provider who was entrusted with improving your life can feel like a devastating betrayal. Now that your life has been turned upside down, you may be unsure how to proceed. Is it possible to prove what you know to be true—that your doctor made a devastating mistake?

In Virginia, medical malpractice cases hinge on proving that the healthcare provider violated the applicable medical standard of care. To find out how you can do that, contact our Virginia Beach medical malpractice lawyers for guidance. At Shapiro, Washburn, & Sharp, we have extensive experience in Virginia medical law and regulations and the role of medical experts and can help you put together a strong case for medical malpractice compensation. Call us at 833-997-1774 for a free consultation.

What Are Medical Standards of Care?

We hear about medical standards of care, but what are they, exactly?

These refer to the level of skill, diligence, and treatment that a reasonably prudent healthcare provider in the same field would use under similar circumstances. The law doesn’t explicitly define it, though. Instead, it’s left up to medical experts to analyze the specific facts of each situation and determine the relevant medical care standards.

An ER doctor retained by the patient, for example, may differ on the exact medical standards that apply from the ER doctor retained by the physician or hospital. Normally, a civil jury must decide which side is correct if there are disagreements as to exactly what medical standards apply.

The actual jury instructions (Instruction No. 35.000) used in a medical malpractice case filed in a Virginia state court includes the following:

“A doctor has a duty to use the degree of skill and diligence in the care and treatment of his or her patient that a reasonably prudent doctor in the same field of practice or specialty in this state would have used under the circumstances of this case. This is referred to as the standard of care. If a doctor fails to perform this duty, then he or she is negligent.”

According to a report published in the Innovations of Neuroscience journal, the standard of care is not “optimal care.” Instead, it is a “continuum, with barely acceptable care at one end, and the ultimate in care at the other end . . . Of course, in terms of patient safety and clinical outcomes, physicians should aim in the direction of optimal care.”

In essence, Virginia law requires the plaintiff (patient) to prove that the injury wouldn’t have happened if the doctor had followed the relevant “standards of care.”

How Is Violation of the Standard of Care Proven?

So, how do you prove that your doctor is guilty of medical malpractice? You need a medical expert to testify that your doctor acted outside the relevant standard of care.

According to Virginia Code 8.01-581.20, to recover damages alleged to have been caused by medical malpractice, “the standard of care by which the acts or omissions are to be judged shall be that degree of skill and diligence practiced by a reasonably prudent practitioner in the field of practice or specialty in this Commonwealth and the testimony of an expert witness, otherwise qualified, as to such standard of care, shall be admitted . . .” (emphasis supplied).

You don’t want just any medical expert, however. You need a medical expert skilled in the specific field of medicine for your case, and one able to testify that the standards at a Virginia hospital are identical to a nationwide standard, or identical to where that expert practices, if they are based outside Virginia.

An average medical expert who testifies that “most” doctors would have done this or that will not be good enough. You need someone who can show in a factual and specific manner that your doctor was negligent by veering away from acceptable medical standards.

The role of this expert is vital because the other side may have competing medical experts who differ with yours. That means the court and/or jury will be left to decide which one is right. They do that by weighing the testimony and determining which is most believable and stands up to critical analysis.

Common examples of medical violations that may be supported by a quality, qualified medical expert may include:

  • Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of a critical condition.
  • Errors during surgery, such as operating on the wrong site; leaving a surgical tool inside the body; or nicking, cutting, burning or lacerating the wrong body part.
  • Prescribing the wrong medication or dosage.
  • Failing to appreciate a major abnormality that was clearly visible on imaging such as a CT scan or MRI.
  • Failing to recognize or act on an active, obvious hospital infection.
  • Applying the wrong anesthesiology dosage—or too little or too much of a dosage—leading to hypoxic brain injury.
  • Failing to properly monitor a patient during recovery.

How Do Virginia Medical Regulations Impact Cases?

Though your case is likely to hinge on the quality of your medical expert(s), Virginia medical regulations may also play a role. These regulations are codified in the Virginia Administrative Code and establish specific rules for healthcare providers. If you and your attorney can prove a violation of any of these rules, the regulatory violation will add evidence to your negligence claim of a breach of the standard of care.

For example, Virginia regulations govern areas like:

  • Informed consent: Virginia Code 54.1-3408.1 requires providers to notify patients of the risks and benefits of treatment.
  • Sterilization procedures: Regulations require sterilization of surgical tools to prevent infections.
  • Record-keeping: Providers must maintain accurate and complete medical records for each patient.
  • Written Records: Doctors in hospitals must provide any important diagnosis in writing and must provide the written diagnosis in written patient discharge instructions.

Imagine a hospital fails to follow proper infection control protocols outlined in Virginia regulations, and a patient develops a severe infection as a result, which is not properly controlled by an attending physician. That patient may be able to use that failure to control the infection as evidence to support a medical malpractice claim against an attending physician.

Regulatory violations alone, however, do not automatically establish negligence—you and your attorney have to link them to harm caused by the healthcare provider’s actions or omissions.

How Can a Medical Malpractice Injury Attorney Help?

Your medical malpractice attorneys at Shapiro, Washburn, & Sharp have decades of experience in medical malpractice. We have settled cases for millions, have tried jury trials winning millions for our clients, and have strong connections in the medical community, having regularly located and retained medical experts in many areas of medicine.

Contact us today. We will work diligently to find the experts that are particularly relevant to your case, as we did for a Portsmouth, Virginia, man whose dentist failed to properly treat a spreading infection. One of our attorneys helped secure a $3.74 million jury verdict for him.

In addition to Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, we also have offices in Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake.

 

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