The Difference Between Medical Malpractice vs. Negligence in Virginia

Negligence can happen in many situations, including car wrecks and slip-and-fall accidents. Medical malpractice is a more specific type of negligence. It involves licensed healthcare providers failing to provide the accepted standard of care to a patient during treatment.

Virginia law sets special rules for medical malpractice cases, including expert witness requirements. Regular negligence cases don’t require you to take these same steps. Identifying which type of case you have matters. It will affect how you file your claim.

What Is Negligence in Virginia?

Negligence is a legal term that describes careless or unsafe behavior that causes harm to another person. In everyday situations, people have a basic legal duty to act with reasonable care. If someone ignores that duty and causes harm to another party, the injured party might have grounds for legal action. For example, if a store owner fails to clean up a spill promptly, and a customer slips and gets hurt as a result, the store owner could be liable for negligence.

What Are the Four Elements of a Virginia Negligence Claim?

When you file a negligence-based lawsuit, you must prove that four specific elements exist to show that negligence occurred. If proof of even one element is missing, you will not win your case. The following is an overview of these four elements of negligence:

• Duty of care — The first step in a negligence claim is showing the other party had a legal duty to act a certain way. This duty of care depends on the relationship between the parties and the situation. For example, a doctor must follow medical standards when treating a patient, and a driver must follow traffic laws to keep other road users safe.
• Breach of duty — Once you establish that a duty exists, you must show the other party failed to meet that duty. A breach of duty happens when someone acts carelessly or does something that a reasonable person would not do in a similar situation. In medical malpractice cases, this breach of duty usually involves a healthcare provider’s failure to follow accepted medical standards. In negligence cases, it might mean showing that someone took risks that most people would not have taken under the circumstances.
• Causation — You must prove that the other party’s breach of duty caused your injury. You must show a direct link between their careless actions or inaction and the harm you suffered. Courts require proof of two types of causation: cause in fact and legal cause. Cause in fact exists if the injury would not have happened without the breach. Legal cause arises if the harm was a natural and predictable result of the breach. If something else caused your injury or if the causal link is too weak, your claim may be denied.
• Damages — Finally, you must show that the breach caused you actual harm. Remedies, called damages, usually come in the form of monetary compensation. You can seek damages for medical bills, income losses, and even intangible harm like pain and suffering. Courts will award damages only if you prove the harm that you suffered and tie it to the breach of duty. Without such proof, a negligence claim will not succeed.

What Is Medical Malpractice in Virginia?

Medical malpractice is a type of negligence that involves healthcare providers. Virginia law defines it as any act or failure to act by a provider during medical services that violates the standard of care and causes injury or death to a patient. The “standard of care” refers to what a reasonably skilled provider would do in the same situation. Doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other licensed providers can all face malpractice claims.

What Are Some Examples of Medical Malpractice?

Many different types of medical errors can lead to a medical malpractice claim. The following are some examples that demonstrate how these cases arise:

• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis — If a doctor gives the wrong diagnosis or takes too long to find the right one, it can delay proper treatment and cause harm.
• Surgical mistakes — Errors like operating on the wrong area, injuring nearby organs, or leaving tools inside the body can lead to more problems that require extra surgery.
• Birth injuries — A provider who mishandles pregnancy or delivery (for example, by not doing a timely C-section) can cause lasting harm to the parent or child.
• Medication errors — If a provider prescribes the wrong drug or dose or gives bad instructions, it can lead to severe side effects or worsen the patient’s condition.
• Failure to get informed consent — Providers can face malpractice claims if they skip explaining risks or choices before a procedure and their patient gets hurt.

What Is Virginia’s Statute of Limitations for a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

In Virginia, most medical malpractice lawsuits must be initiated within two years of the date of the injury. If you attempt to sue after that deadline, the court will usually dismiss your case. However, some exceptions apply.

For example, if the provider left a foreign object in the body, the patient has one year from when they found it — or should have found it — to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, even if the two-year deadline passed. Deadlines can also extend for minors or people with disabilities.

These filing deadlines are strict, and exceptions are rare, so it’s best to talk to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer as soon as you suspect something might have gone wrong.

Contact a Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer

If you suffered preventable injuries in Virginia and believe a medical provider or another party is to blame, don’t wait to act. The Virginia medical malpractice attorneys at Lichtenstein Law Group PLC are here to review your case and help you move forward with confidence. Our team brings nearly 100 years of combined legal experience to every claim we handle. Contact us today for a free consultation and discuss how we can pursue the recovery you deserve.