On April 27, 2016, respected JAMA Surgery published a peer-reviewed article entitled “Seven procedures account for 80% of emergency general surgery operations, deaths, and complications, US study finds”. Those suspect surgeries, all of which involve the digestive system, are: (1) partial colectomy; (2) small bowel...
On May 3, 2016, world-renown British Medical Journal published “Medical error – the third leading cause of death in the US,” authored by a medical professor and a medical research fellow at Johns Hopkins University, one of America’s most respected medical institutions. As the cause...
In medical malpractice cases, Defendant seek to strike or dismiss punitive damages claims, arguing inter alia that the alleged misconduct was not malicious, intentional, etc. However, the proper focus is not on the highest (or even the higher) levels of scienter that obviously suffice for...
Trial is the monthly journal of the American Association of Justice (“AAJ”), formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association (“ATLA”). Its issue for April, 2016, headlines “Our Aging Population,” and features four articles on nursing home cases, a genre of medical malpractice litigation. Id. at 20-35. First,...
By letter opinion on April 21, 2016, Newport News Circuit Court granted Plaintiff patient’s Motion to Enforce §8.01-413(C) Subpoena Dues Tecum and denied Defendant hospital’s Motion to Quash Subpoena Duces Tecum and for Protective Order in the alleged wrongful death case of Myers v. Riverside...
This past week alone, multiple doctors and other healthcare providers across the nation were prosecuted, convicted and/or sentenced criminally for misconduct that also constitutes medical malpractice civilly. For example: On April 14, 2016, a Texas federal court jury unanimously convicted a Dallas doctor (Dr. Jacques Roy)...
On April 19, 2016, Motions were heard in the medical malpractice case of Eason v. Sentara Hospitals and Sentara CarePlex Hospital, No. CL12000470 in Circuit Court for the City of Hampton, Virginia. The Court in Eason denied Sentara’s Defendants’ Motion for Protective Order regarding all...
A demurrer is used solely to make “the contention that a pleading does not state a cause of action or that such pleading fails to state facts upon which the relief demanded can be granted.” Va. Code §8.01-273(A). “Because a demurrer goes to a whole...
A third-party beneficiary patient must be “an intended beneficiary under the contract;” the contracting parties “clearly and definitely intended that the contract confer a benefit upon him”. Environmental Staffing Acquisition Corp. v. B&R Constr. Mgmt., Inc., 283 Va. 787, 793 (2012)(emphasis in original). Yet Virginia’s...
Senate Bill 1619 was passed by Virginia’s General Assembly in 2019, and becomes Va. Code §8.01-379.2:1 effective July 1, 2019. It establishes that a party or potential litigant has a duty to preserve evidence that may be relevant to reasonably foreseeable litigation. It further provides...
Medical malpractice Defendants often seek transfer to more conservative defense-friendly juror venues, claiming forum non convenieus. “Defendants’ Motion and affidavits to the contrary notwithstanding, I suspect that the possible composition of the jury is the primary motivation.” Morris v. City of Harrisonburg, 42 Va. Cir....
On April 6, 2016, Mr. Waterman’s medical malpractice case for alleged wrongful death in Joanne T. Rauchfuss, Administratrix of the Estate of George William Rauchfuss, Jr., Deceased v. Peninsula Radiological Associates, Ltd. and Benjamin J. Pettus, M.D. No. CL1302754V-04(DP) in Circuit Court for Newport News,...
On April 4, 2016, Mr. Waterman filed Opening Brief of Appellants in his consolidated nursing facility appeals, Cherrie/Davis v. Virginia Health Servs., Inc., No. 151758 in the Supreme Court of Virginia, which now is posted on this website under “Practice” and thereunder “Nursing Homes”. It...
On March 16, 2016, on remand from the United States Supreme Court in 2013, United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania filed electronically its 22-page Memorandum Opinion and companion 2-page Order of Court in US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen, No. 2:08cv1593, the...
Trial is the monthly journal of the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”), formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association (“ATLA”). The “Verdict and SETTLEMENTS” section of its issue for March, 2016, reports three noteworthy cases involving vehicle accidents. In “Religious Organization Vicariously Liable for Missionary’s Injuries in...
On March 21, 2016, the Virginia Supreme Court awarded Mr. Waterman another writ of certiorari in his companion appeals of the consolidated declaratory judgment actions, Cherrie v. Virginia Health Services, Inc. c/w Davis v. Virginia Health Services, Inc., Record No. 151758. As sought by his...
Effective July 1, 2006, Va. S. Ct. Rule 1:6 adopted “transactional” analysis for res judicata and issue preclusion. Specifically, it bars “any second or subsequent civil action against the same opposing party or parties on any claim or cause of action that arises from the...
On March 18, 2016, the Court heard dilatory defense pleadings and part of Plaintiff’s discovery motion in the medical malpractice case of Patrick Lee Cherrie, Administrator of the Estate of Gerda A. Harvey, Deceased, v. Virginia Health Services, Inc., d/b/a Walter Reed Convalescent & Rehabilitation...
On March 16, 2016, Riverside Hospital, Inc. reconsidered and voluntarily provided Mr. Waterman a completely unredacted copy of its RISK MANAGEMENT WORKSHEET CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION about the patient’s pain medication pump in the alleged wrongful death lawsuit, Lisa L. Myers, Administrator of the Estate of James...
On March 9, 2016, federal fraud trial commenced in the Dallas Division of United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas against Dr. Jacques Roy, who allegedly bilked Medicare and Medicaid for $374,000,000.00 over 6 years. According to prosecutors, the doctor recruited, recommended,...
On December 23, 2015, Roanoke Division of United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia entered 13-page Memorandum Opinion in Hodges v. Federal-Mogul Corporation, No. 7:12-cv-00362, on remand from United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which vacated its award of...
On March 5, 2016, Mr. Waterman’s law firm, Patten Wornom Hatten & Diamonstein, was nominated for The Legal Elite 2016 Awards of and by The Corporate America Legalelite TwentySixteen. Living up to that, on March 4, 2016, PWHD’s asbestos trial team earned a $7,000,000.00 jury...
On February 26, 2016, Circuit Court for Lynchburg issued a landmark letter opinion in Martin v. Salvaggio, No. CL15000756-00. It recognized the existence of a claim for “negligent credentialing and privileging” of a defendant doctor, and that plaintiff patient alleged the same with sufficient particularity...
Trial is the monthly journal of the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”), formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association (“ATLA”). Its issue for February, 2016, is entitled “TRANSPORTATION” and features multiple articles involving vehicle crashes. “Transportation Bill Raises Railroad Liability Cap” covers the proposed increase in...
On February 24, 2016, the Virginia Supreme Court granted writ of certiorari in Mr. Waterman’s consolidated patient fall cases, Patrick Lee Cherrie, Administrator of the Estate of Gerda A. Harvey, Deceased, and Hubbard A. Davis, Executor of the Estate of James Clifton Davis, Jr., Deceased...
On February 12, 2016, Environment Specialist, Inc. v. Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, N.A., No. 150693, was handed down by the Virginia Supreme Court. It reversed the Circuit Court of Stafford County on its award of $1,200.00 in sanctions against plaintiff’s counsel. Id. at 10. The Virginia...
On February 12, 2016, Phelan v. Commonwealth, No. 150591, was decided by the Virginia Supreme Court. It upheld the Circuit Court of Southampton finding an inmate’s personal injury claim barred by sovereign immunity for failing to meet the statutory notice requirements of the Virginia Tort...
On February 12, 2016, the Virginia Supreme Court issued Simms v. Van Son, No. 150191, an unpublished Order. It reversed the Circuit Court of Brunswick County holding at jury trial that a pedestrian struck by an auto was contributorily negligent as a matter of law...
On February 10, 2016, the United States Department of Justice (“USDOJ”) announced that it sued Dr. Labib E. Riachi and his two companies, Riachi, Inc. and Center for Advanced Pelvic Surgery, LLC, all of New Jersey, for “knowingly submitting millions of dollars in false claims...
The Trial Lawyer is the quarterly journal of The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers. Its issue for Winter 2016 features multiple articles involving motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice and product liability. The 2 Trial Lawyer MVA articles are: “ARE YOU LOOKING FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES...