Dentists who provide free dental services to Mission of Mercy are liable for civil damages only for acts or omissions resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct. You advise that members of the Virginia Dental Association have provided dental services, free of charge, to over 700 patients for the Mission of Mercy project in Wise, Virginia. A nonprofit group, Remote Area Medical, has coordinated with the project for the provision of equipment, such as dental chairs, lamps, and sterilization machines.
Dental companies provide supplies, such as gloves, gauze, and preventive care products.
You state that many of the participating volunteer dentists donate supplies, products and machines from their dental offices. The above statute limits the common law right of recovery in tort to instances involving the gross negligence or willful misconduct of a volunteer health care provider, including a dentist, in rendering, at any site, the health care services permitted by his license or certification. Statutes in derogation of the common law are to be strictly construed and not to be enlarged in their operation by construction beyond their express terms. It is, therefore, unnecessary in this situation to resort to any rules of statutory construction when the language of a statute is unambiguous. In such situations, the statute's plain meaning and intent govern, and I believe the language of 54.1-106 to be clear.