We are Medical Malpractice Attorneys Providing Victims with Legal Support As They Seek Compensation

The malpractice legal team at Wallace Wason, PLLC has the experience necessary to fight for injured patients facing life-altering consequences due to a mistake made by a healthcare professional.

Our legal team has spent decades serving victims who have experienced injuries caused by medical mistakes. In instances of fatal injuries, we help pursue cases on behalf of the surviving family members or the estate of the deceased.

Regardless of what you’re going through, it is imperative to hold negligent healthcare professionals accountable when there is a valid medical malpractice claim to be made.  Wallace Wason, PLLC is uniquely qualified to help you do this.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a patient is injured because a healthcare professional, such as a doctor, nurse, or surgeon, provides care that falls below the standard accepted in the medical community. Events that may lead to a legal malpractice claim can include such deviations as failure to diagnose or treat a condition, a misdiagnosis, treatment to the wrong patient, misuse of instruments, or a procedure performed on the wrong body part of a patient.

Not every disappointing result after treatment by a medical professional is malpractice, however, as even perfectly proper care can result in undesired results. Orthopedic repairs may not turn out perfectly, and abdominal surgery performed on one organ can result in injury to nearby organs, for example. If the treatment was in all ways considered reasonable and prudent by the community of medical professionals providing similar treatment, the law does not consider such injuries to be the result of malpractice.  But when the injury occurs because of a failure to provide standard or proper treatment, a legal claim for malpractice may be the best way for an injured patient to be compensated.

 

What is the Standard of Care?

The standard of care is a legal term used to describe the level of care and skill that a healthcare professional is expected by the medical community to provide to a patient. It is the level of care that a reasonable, prudent healthcare professional in the practice or specialty would provide in similar circumstances.  When a doctor, a nurse, a surgeon or other health professional fails to meet the standard of care, a case may be made for medical malpractice.

 

How Can You Prove A Medical Malpractice Claim In Virginia?

In order to prove medical malpractice in a lawsuit in Virginia, a plaintiff must show that the healthcare professional had a duty to provide treatment within the standard of care (i.e. that a doctor-patient relationship existed), that this duty of care was breached, and that the healthcare professional’s breach resulted in harm to the patient.

In Virginia, a qualified expert (one who provides or has recently provided care in the same practice area or specialty) must attest that the standard of care was breached in order to prove malpractice and hold a healthcare professional liable. If it is determined that the healthcare provider did not meet the standard of care, then a medical malpractice lawsuit may go forward.

An experienced medical malpractice attorney at Wallace Wason, PLLC will help to evaluate your malpractice claim to determine if you have a valid legal case and the likelihood that it can be proven.

 

What Kinds of Injuries Occur in Malpractice Cases?

The most serious types of mistakes are referred to as “never events,” because they should never happen in healthcare. Medical errors that can cause injury mistakes include:

• misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose,
• missed cancer diagnosis,
• surgical errors such as Wrong Sided Surgery,
• birth Injuries such as spinal cord injuries, kernicterus and Erb’s palsy,
• birth defects arising from lack of oxygen or Cerebral palsy,
• anesthesia errors,
• prescription errors, and
• foreign objects left in the body.

Injuries that may lead to medical malpractice suits include, but are not limited to the following types:

• chronic, debilitating pain resulting from inappropriate medical treatment,
• loss of limb or function,
• loss of eyesight,
• loss of a large number of teeth,
• loss of ability to perform daily activities of living,
• partial or complete paralysis,
• stroke or brain injury,
• permanent disfigurement, or
• unusual, excessive or unnecessary scarring.

Compensation For Medical Malpractice Claims

When injuries occur due to malpractice, filing a lawsuit is often the only way to ensure clients receive fair compensation.

Wallace Wason, PLLC is experienced in medical malpractice cases in Virginia and surrounding areas. The legal team has handled a wide variety of such cases, numbering in the hundreds over the years, and has achieved recoveries valued into seven figures both by settlement prior to trial and in the form of jury awards at trial.

More broadly, the Wallace Wason, PLLC team is experienced in pursuing the best results for our clients. Our staff is skilled at documenting and building the components of solid malpractice cases, providing the basis for compensation to injured patients.  Please contact us today to evaluate your claim (with no charge to you).

 

Do You Have A Valid Malpractice Case?

Your injury, the way it occurred, the treatment you have needed, the statute of limitations, the degree of your recovery from the injury (if any), and the availability and likely success of future treatment can all be important factors in how your legal claim may proceed.  That’s why it’s important to have your claim evaluated by an attorney experienced in medical malpractice lawsuits.  Wallace Wason, PLLC will evaluate your claim help answer these questions and identify the best path to recovery.

Contact us today at (703) 420-3725 or via our online form to schedule a free consultation and learn more about your options.