Medical providers are entrusted with caring for patients who depend on them for sound medical advice and thoughtful treatment. Patients can suffer serious injuries when doctors, nurses, and other treatment providers fail to provide the required care. These victims deserve to seek accountability and compensation from medical professionals who caused them harm.
If you were injured or developed a medical condition because of a doctor’s wrongdoing, you could be entitled to financial relief for your medical bills, lost wages, and other injury-related losses. Attorneys Mike Deering and Chris Todd Hedrick can evaluate your situation and determine whether you have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
For over 30 years, clients have come to Deering Hedrick, P.C. for help taking legal action for medical malpractice. Contact our trusted attorneys today to get started with a consultation.
Signs You May Have A Medical Malpractice Case
Not every bad outcome is malpractice, but certain red flags suggest you should speak with an attorney:
- A sudden, unexpected worsening of your condition after treatment or surgery.
- A new diagnosis that contradicts earlier exams or test results without a clear explanation.
- A second opinion that says your original treatment deviated from accepted medical practice.
- Evidence of a foreign object left inside your body after a procedure.
- A hospital‑acquired infection or complication that reasonable care should have prevented.
- A provider who cannot or will not explain what went wrong or provides inconsistent explanations.
These signs do not guarantee a case, but they often warrant a detailed review of your records and a consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer.
When Does Medical Negligence Become Medical Malpractice?
Medical negligence and medical malpractice are often used interchangeably, but not every mistake rises to the level of a lawsuit. In general, medical negligence becomes medical malpractice when a healthcare provider’s care falls below the accepted standard of care and that substandard care causes a patient’s injury and resulting losses. Virginia courts apply these principles through specific procedural rules and damage caps.
In practical terms, a potential malpractice case usually requires proof of four key elements:
- Duty: A doctor‑patient (or provider‑patient) relationship existed, so the provider owed you a duty of care.
- Breach: The provider failed to meet the applicable standard of care (what a reasonably careful provider would have done in similar circumstances).
- Causation: That breach was a proximate cause of your injury or worsened condition.
- Damages: You suffered actual harm resulting in medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, disability, etc.
If one of these elements is missing, you may have a negligence concern but not a viable medical malpractice claim under Virginia law.
Is It Worth Suing for Medical Malpractice?
Whether a case is “worth it” depends on both liability and damages. Even when a provider clearly made a mistake, a lawsuit may not be practical if:
- The injury is minor, temporary, or did not cause significant economic or non‑economic losses.
- The cost of obtaining expert medical testimony and developing the case outweighs the likely recovery.
- The evidence cannot clearly show that the provider’s breach caused your specific injury.
On the other hand, cases involving serious injuries, permanent impairment, additional surgeries, long‑term care needs, or death often justify the time and expense of a malpractice claim, especially when the four elements above can be supported by records and expert opinions.
An experienced Virginia Beach medical malpractice attorney can give you a realistic assessment of liability, damages, and whether pursuing a case makes sense for your situation.
Common Medical Malpractice Cases
Doctors, nurses, surgeons, radiologists, and other medical groups and providers can be liable for injuries resulting from medical malpractice. Some of the most common medical malpractice cases that we handle include the following:
- Surgical errors
- Hospitals or clinics knowingly hiring an unlicensed or unqualified healthcare professional
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
- Interpreting the results of a diagnostic test incorrectly
- Providing inadequate pre- or post-care
- Failing to warn of potential risks of a recommended treatment
- Prescribing medications without reviewing the patient’s medical history
- Using unsterilized equipment or tools
- Administering the wrong dosage or drug
- Recommending an unnecessary procedure
- Leaving a foreign object in the body during surgery
Healthcare Providers Who May Be Held Responsible
In Virginia medical malpractice cases, liability is not limited to a single type of provider. Any licensed healthcare professional or medical entity that owes you a duty of care and fails to meet the applicable standard of care can potentially be held responsible for the injuries that result.
This often includes individual clinicians such as doctors, nurses, surgeons, radiologists, anesthesiologists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, each of whom may be independently liable if their own negligence contributed to your harm.
In many situations, more than one provider’s actions or omissions combine to cause an injury, meaning multiple clinicians can share responsibility for the same adverse outcome.
Common Injuries from Medical Malpractice
Patients can sustain various injuries at the hands of negligent medical providers. The most common injuries resulting from medical malpractice include the following:
- Post-operative infections
- Birth injuries
- Nerve and tissue damage
- Internal bleeding
- Organ failure
- Punctured lung or another organ during an operation
- Complications from an undiagnosed or misdiagnosed illness
- Brain damage
- Adverse effects of drug interactions
- Disfigurement or scarring from an unnecessary procedure
Emotional injuries can also result from medical malpractice. Some patients develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, or depression, which can significantly affect a person’s overall health and well-being. The psychological consequences might last long after physical wounds and scars heal.
Compensation for Medical Malpractice
If you suffered an injury due to medical malpractice, you could be entitled to compensation for your losses. You could pursue financial relief for the following:
- Out-of-pocket expenses, such as mileage for traveling to doctor’s appointments
- Lost wages if you cannot work while you heal from your injuries
- Lost earning capacity if your injuries result in permanent impairment preventing you from returning to work or seeking gainful employment
- Medical expenses, including hospital stays, doctor’s visits, diagnostic testing, physical therapy, prescriptions, and medical equipment
- Loss of enjoyment or quality of life due to physical limitations, permanent scarring, or disfigurement
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
Punitive damages are sometimes awarded against defendants in medical malpractice cases. These damages are not intended to compensate the victim of medical malpractice but rather to punish the wrongdoers to deter future misbehavior. Under Virginia law, punitive damages are capped at $350,000.
What is the Average Medical Malpractice Settlement Amount?
In Virginia, recoveries are shaped by the state’s cap on total damages in medical malpractice cases. For injuries sustained in 2026, the cap is approximately $2.7 million and increases slightly each year. That cap applies to the total of economic and non‑economic damages combined, so very large claims may be limited by statute even when liability is clear.
Every case is different. Nationwide averages include small and large claims across many injury types; your potential recovery depends on the severity of your injuries, your medical expenses, lost income, long‑term care needs, and how clearly you can prove the four elements of malpractice.
Pursuing a Wrongful Death Case After a Medical Error
If medical malpractice leads to a patient’s death, the decedent’s surviving family members may be entitled to pursue compensation by filing a wrongful death case against the medical professional or another responsible party.
Virginia law defines wrongful death as a death caused by the neglect, wrongful act, or default of a person or corporation. Commonwealth law requires a wrongful death lawsuit to be brought by the personal representative of the decedent’s estate. Often, the personal representative can be the surviving spouse or a surviving child.
In the case of the wrongful death of a fetus, the natural mother can file a lawsuit. If the natural mother dies or develops a disability, the administrator of the natural mother’s estate may file suit.
Compensation from a successful wrongful death case may cover losses such as:
- Loss of the decedent’s care, services, assistance, and protection
- Reasonable burial and funeral expenses
- The value of lost income, including benefits and wages the decedent could have earned if they survived
- Medical bills related to the final injury or illness
- Loss of the decedent’s companionship, advice, comfort, society, and guidance
- Sorrow and mental anguish
If you believe a medical error caused your loved one’s death, an attorney can explain your rights, identify the proper parties to sue, and help you pursue the compensation your family deserves.
How to Handle a Medical Malpractice Case
Once you retain counsel and open a medical malpractice case, the process typically looks like this:
- Case evaluation and investigation: Your attorney reviews your records, obtains additional medical documentation, and often consults medical experts to determine whether the standard of care was breached and whether that breach caused your injury.
- Pre‑litigation requirements: Virginia law and local court rules may require certain notices, expert certifications, or other pre‑filing steps depending on the type of claim and where it is filed. Your lawyer handles these requirements so you do not miss critical deadlines.
- Filing the lawsuit and discovery: If a settlement is not reached before filing, your attorney files a complaint and the case enters “discovery,” where both sides exchange information, take depositions, and request documents. This phase is often the longest part of the case.
- Negotiations and mediation: Many cases settle during or after discovery, sometimes through formal mediation. Your attorney negotiates with the defense and any insurance carriers to seek a fair resolution without the need for trial.
- Trial, if necessary: If the parties cannot agree on a settlement, your case may proceed to trial, where a judge or jury decides liability and damages. Even when a case is trial‑ready, settlements can still occur up to and during trial.
Throughout this process, your role is to focus on your health and follow medical advice, while your legal team manages the paperwork, deadlines, expert coordination, and communications with the other side.
How Long Do Most Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Take?
In Virginia, most medical malpractice lawsuits take one to three years from initial consultation to resolution, and more complex cases can take longer, especially if they proceed close to or through trial. Cases that settle early with clear liability and limited disputes may resolve in under a year, while heavily contested matters with multiple experts, multiple defendants, or appeals can stretch beyond three years.
Your attorney can give you a more tailored timeline once they understand the specifics of your injury, the providers involved, and the strength of the evidence.
Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice
In Virginia, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice gives you two years from the date the injury occurred to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. However, the two-year deadline might be extended under specific circumstances, including the following:
- Foreign object: If a medical professional leaves a foreign object in your body that has no diagnostic or therapeutic effect, you have one year from the date you discover or should reasonably discover the object to file your lawsuit.
- Failure to diagnose: If your healthcare professional fails to diagnose your cancer; intracranial, spinal, or intraspinal schwannoma; or malignant tumor, you have one year from the date of discovery to file suit.
- Delayed discovery of injury: If a medical provider’s concealment, fraud, or intentional misrepresentation prevented you from discovering your injury within the two-year timeframe, you have one year from the date of discovery or from when you reasonably should have made the discovery to file the lawsuit.
While extending the two-year deadline might be possible, keep in mind that you cannot file your medical malpractice lawsuit beyond 10 years from the date the malpractice occurred.
Even if you can extend the deadline, speaking to a medical malpractice attorney is crucial. Gathering evidence to prove liability and to build a robust case can take weeks or months. If you miss the statutory deadline, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case, and you will lose your right to seek compensation in civil court. A medical malpractice attorney can file necessary paperwork promptly and correctly and ensure that you don’t miss any critical deadlines.
Speak to an Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Virginia Beach Today
If you or a loved one suffered an injury or illness due to medical malpractice, you deserve to seek justice and compensation for the harm that has been done.
Attorneys Mike Deering and Chris Todd Hedrick are committed to holding medical professionals accountable for their wrongdoing. We can advocate for your rights and help you pursue financial relief for medical bills, lost wages, and other injury-related losses. At Deering Hedrick, P.C., we can handle every detail of your medical malpractice case so that you can focus on healing. Contact our office today at (757) 383-6848 to speak to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Virginia Beach.
