Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyers’ Blog

What Kinds of Fractures Can Be Caused by Virginia Accidents?

Suffering a bone fracture after a Virginia accident? Call Shevlin Smith today at (703) 591-0067 for a free consultation with a Fairfax personal injury attorney.

Virginia Supreme Court Decisions A Big Victory For Plaintiffs

Last week, the Virignia Supreme Court released its decision in Centra Health, Inc. v. Mullins.  The end result is a big victory for plaintiffs in death cases where the cause of death is contested.

The Central Health case resolved a long-standing issue under Virginia law -- whether a plaintiff has the right to submit both a survival action and a wrongful death action to a jury for resolution at the same time.  Plaintiff's lawyers have long advocated for this right in order to prevent the injustice of picking the wrong cause of action to submit to a jury, and losing a case, not because the defendant did not negligently cause harm, but because the wrong cause of action was chosen. 

Until the Central Health decision, a plaintiff's nightmare scenario occurs under the following facts.  The defendant negligently injures a person and everyone agrees that the defendant was indeed negligent in injuring the other person.  The injured person then dies some time after the initial injury.  The plaintiff and defendant disagree whether the defendant's negligence actually caused the injured person to die, or whether the injured person died from some other cause.  Based upon these facts, two different causes of action were available to the plaintiff - (1) a wrongful death claim in which the plaintiff alleged that the defendant caused the death of the injured person' or (2) a survival action claim inwihch the plaintiff alleged that the defendant caused injury to the injured person but did not cause death.  Prior to Central Health, some trial courts were requiring the plaintiff to elect only one of the two claims to submit to a jury.  The injustice arose when the plaintiff elected the wrongful death claim, but lost at trial because the jury felt the defendant negligently injured the injured person but did not cause that person's death; or when the plaintiff elected the survival action claim, but lost at trial because the jury felt the defendant did negligently cause the injured person's death.

In Central Health, the Virginia Supreme Court recognized the right of plaintiffs to submit both claims to the jury, and allow the jury to decide which of the two claims was the right one under the evidence presented.  Under this decision, plaintiffs no longer face the prospect of losing a case where the defendant is admittedly negligent on the grounds that the wrong type of claim was elected.       

Patient Advocacy: A Growing Business

How many of us have gone to a emergency room, or even to a doctor's office, and waited for what seemed to be an eternity to be examined?  How many of us have been in a hospital or a doctor's office but felt that the staff was not hearing our complaints?  Unfortunately, these experiences can be all too common.  In our legal practice, we often see the tragic consequences that can result from long delays and failure to listen to patient complaints.  Sadly, we have handled numerous cases in which patients have died or have suffered life-changing injuries from conditions that were treatable with earlier intervention. 

Recently, we have been reading a great deal about an emerging business industry - patient advocacy.  A recent article in the Arizona Daily Star discussed the role and merits of patient advocacy.   The patient advocate works on behalf of a patient to ensure that the patient receives the best possible medical care.  These advocates can help monitor patient medication, review patient treatment plans, provide detailed patient medical histories, alert overworked nurses when vital signs go bad, coordinate care as nurses and doctors change shifts, and look out for patient comfort, hygiene and mobility.  The use of patient advocates appears to be most prevalent during hospitalizations and nursing home visits. 

For more informaton about patient advocacy, check out these websites below.  We do not have any affiliation with these companies, but found that their websites provide helpful information for you in considering whether to hire or use a patient advocate.
Patient & Family Advocates, LLC
The Family Advocate
COPE Patient Advocates

Please note, however, that a patient advocate does not always have to be a hired advocate.  Family members can always serve as an effective advocate if they are willing to become actively involved in the care of a loved one.