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HB 2229 was signed into law by the Virginia legislature on February 20, 2011. The new law changes some of the old rules that Virginia physicians were required to follow in the event that they were sued by one of their patients in a medical malpractice action. One Virginia legal news source has reported its opinion that the change in the law may aid in settling future medical malpractice claims between doctors and patients.
Prior to HB 2229, Virginia physicians and doctors were required to report to the Virginia Board of Medicine if they had three medical malpractice judgments or claims worth $10,000 or more within a ten-year period. Physicians who received the requisite number of claims within the ten-year period were required to undergo an assessment by the Board of Medicine to determine whether the physician was fit to continue on in the practice of medicine. As you could imagine, physicians facing a malpractice claim under these rules would be very hesitant to settle a claim if he or she knew that the settlement would count against one of his three judgments.
Under the new law, a settlement, judgment or claim would not count against the doctors “three judgments” unless the claim was settlement or adjudicated for more than $75,000. This law may help to alleviate some of pressure felt by physicians to pass up a settlement offer in favor of a judicial decision at trial. Essentially, the law may make settlement offers more appealing to physicians, which may benefit plaintiffs in some medical malpractice cases.
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