Pledger v. Lynch - Failing to Provide a Screening Certi­ficate of Merit not Grounds for Dismissal in Federal Court

By Amy R. Humphreys and Morgan E. Villers, as published in The DTCWV Defender (Winter Edition 2022)

Medical malpractice defense practitioners beware when defending Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) cases for medical negligence. According to the latest holdings of the Fourth Circuit, a plaintiff’s failure to comply with the pre-suit expert certi­fication requirement of West Virginia’s Medical Professional Liability Act, W.Va. Code § 55-7B-6(b) (MPLA) is not grounds for dismissal in federal court.

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