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Medical Malpractice Help in Logan
When medical care in Logan goes wrong, the harm is physical, financial and personal at once, and it is hard to know whether what happened is a legal claim.
The sections below set out the West Virginia law that applies to malpractice claims and explain how to reach, through needanattorney.net, an attorney in our network who handles them.
What Counts as Medical Malpractice in West Virginia
Under W. Va. Code § 55-7B-3, a claim has two necessary elements: a failure to meet the degree of care, skill and learning a reasonable, prudent provider in that profession or class would show in the same or similar circumstances, and proximate cause of the injury or death.
When the claim is that a failure to follow the standard of care cost the patient a chance of recovery, W. Va. Code § 55-7B-3 requires proof, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, that proper care would have given a greater than 25 percent chance of improvement or survival.
A bad result alone is not enough. The question is whether the care departed from accepted practice and whether that departure, rather than the underlying illness or a known risk, caused the harm.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
Whatever the kind of mistake, a claim comes back to two questions: did the care depart from accepted practice, and did that cause the injury?
Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis
A claim can arise when a condition is missed or identified late. The question is whether the delay or error departed from accepted medical practice and caused harm that earlier treatment would have avoided.
Surgical mistakes
Problems before, during or after an operation can all lead to claims: planning, the procedure itself, anesthesia and follow up care. The question is whether the care departed from accepted practice and caused the injury.
Prescription and dosing mistakes
A prescription or dosing mistake may involve a physician, a pharmacy or a hospital staff member. A claim looks at who made the error and what it caused.
Harm to a mother or baby at birth
Birth injury claims examine monitoring, decisions about delivery and care after the baby is born, and ask whether any departure from accepted practice caused the harm.
Filing Deadlines Under West Virginia Law
West Virginia allows two years from the injury or death, or two years from discovery, whichever is later (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-4); discovery means when the patient found, or with reasonable diligence should have found, the injury.
Even with a late discovery, W. Va. Code § 55-7B-4 bars an action brought more than 10 years after the date of the medical injury.
The periods are tolled for any time during which the provider or its representative has committed fraud or collusion by concealing or misrepresenting material facts about the injury (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-4).
Claims against a nursing home, an assisted living facility, their related entities or employees, or a distinct part of an acute care hospital providing intermediate or skilled nursing care have a shorter period of one year, with the same discovery wording and the same 10 year limit (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-4).
When the Patient Is a Child
West Virginia gives a child injured before the age of 10 until the 12th birthday or two years from the injury, whichever is longer (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-4).
The child’s age on the date of the injury decides which period applies under W. Va. Code § 55-7B-4, so a birth date and a treatment date are worth having ready.
Pre Suit Steps in West Virginia
Before a lawsuit, West Virginia requires a notice of claim served by certified mail on each health care provider the claimant will join, at least 30 days before the complaint is filed (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-6).
W. Va. Code § 55-7B-6 requires the notice of claim to include a statement of the theories of liability, a list of the providers and facilities notified, and the screening certificate of merit.
W. Va. Code § 55-7B-6 lists five things the certificate states with particularity: the expert’s familiarity with the standard of care, qualifications, the breach, the resulting injury or death, and the materials reviewed.
The certificate can be replaced by a statement when the claim is based on a well established theory of liability, and it can follow within 60 days of a statement of intent when time is short (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-6).
The provider has 30 days to respond to the notice, and may demand prelitigation mediation, to be concluded within 45 days (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-6).
Expert Witnesses and the Standard of Care
Under W. Va. Code § 55-7B-7, the plaintiff establishes the standard of care and the defendant’s failure to meet it through knowledgeable, competent expert witnesses, if the court requires them.
W. Va. Code § 55-7B-7 lists what must be shown before an expert is found competent, including that the opinion is actually held, is stated with reasonable medical probability, and rests on knowledge of the applicable standard of care.
There is a rebuttable presumption of competence when the expert spent sixty percent of professional time in clinical practice or teaching in the field at the time of the medical injury (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-7).
What West Virginia Law Says About Damage Limits
West Virginia limits noneconomic damages in a malpractice case to $250,000 for each occurrence, however many plaintiffs and defendants there are (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-8).
Three kinds of loss qualify for the higher $500,000 limit under W. Va. Code § 55-7B-8: wrongful death, permanent and substantial deformity or loss of a limb or organ system, and a permanent functional injury that prevents independent self care.
Under W. Va. Code § 55-7B-8, the limits are indexed to the Consumer Price Index each year, up to one hundred fifty percent of the statutory amounts, and require the defendant to carry $1,000,000 of insurance per occurrence.
The absence of a limit does not mean any amount is guaranteed; the outcome of a claim depends on its facts and the evidence.
Shared Fault and Several Liability
In a trial with multiple defendants, the fact finder reports the percentage of fault, if any, attributable to each plaintiff and to each defendant, and considers the fault of all alleged parties, including a person who settled with the plaintiff (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-9).
When a hospital and a physician are both named, W. Va. Code § 55-7B-9 makes each responsible for its own percentage, not for the whole.
Because fault can be assigned to providers who are not defendants, identifying every provider involved in the care early matters.
Wrongful Death Claims in West Virginia
W. Va. Code § 55-7-6 has the personal representative bring the action and recover the amount for distribution to those entitled.
W. Va. Code § 55-7-6 sets two years from the death as the time to commence a wrongful death action.
The jury may award damages that seem fair and just, including sorrow, mental anguish and solace, which may include society, companionship, comfort, guidance, kindly offices and advice of the decedent, compensation for reasonably expected loss of income and of services, protection, care and assistance, and care, treatment, hospital and funeral expenses (W. Va. Code § 55-7-6).
Political Subdivisions in West Virginia
Claims against a political subdivision have a separate time limit: two years after the cause of action arose or the injury was discovered, whichever last occurs (W. Va. Code § 29-12A-6).
The same act prohibits punitive damages against a political subdivision and limits noneconomic loss to $500,000 in favor of any one person, with no limit on economic loss (W. Va. Code § 29-12A-7).
If the care came from a public hospital or clinic, say so early: whether the political subdivision rules apply, and what else is required, depends on the provider.
Venue for a Claim From Logan
A civil action may be brought in the circuit court of any county where any of the defendants may reside or the cause of action arose (W. Va. Code § 56-1-1). For care received in Logan, the county where the claim arose may well be Logan County.
Local Courts and Hospitals in Logan
Logan County is the county the Census Bureau assigns to Logan. The West Virginia Judiciary lists the Circuit Clerk for Logan County in Logan, in the 11th Judicial Circuit, at Logan County Courthouse, 300 Stratton Street, Logan, WV 25601. Logan Regional Medical Center in Logan is listed as a Level IV trauma center by the West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services (list dated December 16, 2022). Ask the hospital’s records office for your complete chart and itemized bill, and note which doctors and nurses were involved.
Start Your Logan Medical Malpractice Claim
If you believe medical care in Logan caused you or a family member harm, a good first step is to write down what happened, when it happened and who was involved, and to gather the records and bills you already have.
Submit the form on this page and we will work to connect you with an attorney in our network who handles medical malpractice claims in West Virginia. Because filing deadlines are measured in years, not decades, it helps to ask early.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to give notice before filing a malpractice lawsuit in West Virginia?
W. Va. Code § 55-7B-6 requires a notice of claim and a screening certificate of merit to be served on each provider before a lawsuit is filed.
How much can I recover for pain and suffering in West Virginia?
Noneconomic damages are limited to $250,000 for each occurrence, or $500,000 for wrongful death and certain permanent injuries, adjusted each year for inflation (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-8).
Can I claim for a lost chance of survival in West Virginia?
A claim that a failure to follow the standard of care deprived the patient of a chance of recovery; the plaintiff must prove, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, a greater than 25 percent chance of an improved recovery or survival (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-3).
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim in West Virginia?
Two years, with a discovery rule and a 10 year ceiling (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-4); nursing home claims have one year.
Can I recover from every provider who contributed to the harm?
Each defendant is responsible for its own percentage of fault (W. Va. Code § 55-7B-9), so the right providers need to be named.
Is there a wrongful death claim for malpractice in West Virginia?
Two years after the death (W. Va. Code § 55-7-6), and the personal representative brings the action.
Are damages limited against a political subdivision?
A separate act applies to political subdivisions: two years after the cause of action arose or was discovered (W. Va. Code § 29-12A-6), no punitive damages and a $500,000 limit on noneconomic loss for any one person (W. Va. Code § 29-12A-7).
Other Pages That May Help
If your matter is in another part of West Virginia, start from the directory or a nearby community page.
