Medical malpractice in Virginia
Last checked Aug 15, 2026 · LawyerUnc editorial. Educational only, not legal advice.
Elements
1
Provider-patient relationship
The defendant undertook to treat the patient.
2
Standard of care
What a reasonably careful similar provider would have done under similar circumstances.
3
Breach
The care fell below that standard.
4
Causation and injury
The breach more likely than not caused a compensable injury, not merely a bad outcome.
Burden of proof
Preponderance of the evidence, usually with expert testimony on the standard of care.
A Virginia fact pattern
Medical malpractice in virginia.
Statute of limitations
2 years
Va. Code § 8.01-243(A)
Two years from the injury. Virginia is stingy with discovery on ordinary malpractice.
Repose: 10 years.
- Foreign object: one year from discovery, ten-year outer wall under § 8.01-243(C).
- A child under eight has until the tenth birthday on a malpractice file (§ 8.01-243.1). That is not the crash-injury minority rule.