Legal Answers
Brien Roche
There are caps on the amount of money one can recover from a medical malpractice action in many states. They vary from one to another.
In the state of Virginia, there is currently a limit on recovery. That limit or “cap” is two million dollars as of 2011. That cap goes up each year. However as of 2011 it is fixed at that amount. The cap is an absolute limit. No more than the cap can be recovered by a single patient. It makes no difference how many defendants are sued. The cap was enacted years ago because of the medical malpractice crisis. It is supposed to keep down malpractice premiums for Virginia doctors. Medical malpractice lawyers in Virginia fought the cap. They fought it for many reasons. The cap deprives injured persons of a full recovery. In addition there never was a so-called crisis in Virginia.
In DC there is no such limit on damages. Doctors in DC are treated the same as any other citizen. They can be made to pay as much as any other citizen who commits a wrong. However within the District of Columbia there is now a requirement that notice be given to health care providers before suit is filed. The notice allows for the parties to discuss settlement before the suit proceeds.
Legal answers provided by Brien Roche, a medical malpractice lawyer with over 40 years of trial experience. Contact Us today to discuss your malpractice matter.
Also for more information on medical malpractice see the pages on Wikipedia.
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