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WV Code § 55-7B-6b (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7B. Medical Professional Liability|§55-7B-6b. Expedited Resolution of Cases Against Health Care Providers; Time Frames

(a) In each professional liability action filed against a health care provider, the court shall convene a mandatory status conference within sixty days after the appearance of the defendant. It shall be the duty of the defendant to schedule the conference with the court upon proper notice to the plaintiff.(b) During the status conference the parties shall inform the court as to the status of the action, the identification of contested facts and issues, the progress of discovery and the time necessary to complete discovery. The plaintiff shall advise the court whether the plaintiff intends to proceed without an expert, whether the expert who signed the screening certificate of merit will testify upon trial or whether additional experts will be offered by plaintiff. The court shall determine whether the plaintiff may proceed without an expert or otherwise establish dates for the disclosure of expert witnesses by both the plaintiff and all defendants. The court shall also order the parties to participate in mandatory mediation. The mediation shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of trial court rule 25.(c) Absent an order expressly setting forth reasons why the interests of justice would otherwise be served, the court shall enter a scheduling order which sets a trial date within twenty-four months from the date the defendant made an appearance, or if there is more than one defendant, twenty-four months from the date the last defendant makes an appearance in the proceeding. The trial date shall be adhered to unless, for good cause shown, the court enters an order continuing the trial date.(d) The court may order a summary jury trial of the case if all parties represent a case is ready for trial and jointly move the court for a summary jury trial, as provided in section six-c of this article.(e) Counsel and parties are subject to sanctions for failures and lack of preparation specified in rule 16(f) of the rules of civil procedure respecting pretrial conferences or orders and are subject to the payment of reasonable expenses, including attorneys fees, for failure to participate in good faith in the development and submission of a proposed discovery plan as required by the rules of civil procedure.(f) In the event that the court determines prior to trial that either party is presenting or relying upon a frivolous or dilatory claim or defense, for which there is no reasonable basis in fact or at law, the court may direct in any final judgment the payment to the prevailing party of reasonable litigation expenses, including deposition and subpoena expenses, travel expenses incurred by the party, and such other expenses necessary to the maintenance of the action, excluding attorney's fees and expenses.
WV Code § 55-7B-7 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7B. Medical Professional Liability|§55-7B-7. Testimony of Expert Witness on Standard of Care

(a) The applicable standard of care and a defendant's failure to meet the standard of care, if at issue, shall be established in medical professional liability cases by the plaintiff by testimony of one or more knowledgeable, competent expert witnesses if required by the court. A proposed expert witness may only be found competent to testify if the foundation for his or her testimony is first laid establishing that: (1) The opinion is actually held by the expert witness; (2) the opinion can be testified to with reasonable medical probability; (3) the expert witness possesses professional knowledge and expertise coupled with knowledge of the applicable standard of care to which his or her expert opinion testimony is addressed; (4) the expert witness's opinion is grounded on scientifically valid peer-reviewed studies if available; (5) the expert witness maintains a current license to practice medicine with the appropriate licensing authority of any state of the United States: Provided, That the expert witness's license has not been revoked or suspended in the past year in any state; and (6) the expert witness is engaged or qualified in a medical field in which the practitioner has experience and/or training in diagnosing or treating injuries or conditions similar to those of the patient. If the witness meets all of these qualifications and devoted, at the time of the medical injury, sixty percent of his or her professional time annually to the active clinical practice in his or her medical field or specialty, or to teaching in his or her medical field or speciality in an accredited university, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the witness is qualified as an expert. The parties shall have the opportunity to impeach any witness's qualifications as an expert. Financial records of an expert witness are not discoverable or relevant to prove the amount of time the expert witness spends in active practice or teaching in his or her medical field unless good cause can be shown to the court.(b) Nothing contained in this section limits a trial court's discretion to determine the competency or lack of competency of a witness on a ground not specifically enumerated in this section.
WV Code § 55-7B-7a (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7B. Medical Professional Liability|§55-7B-7a. Admissibility and Use of Certain Information

(a) In an action brought, there is a rebuttable presumption that the following information may not be introduced unless it applies specifically to the injured person or it involves substantially similar conduct that occurred within one year of the particular incident involved:(1) A state or federal survey, audit, review or other report of a health care provider or health care facility;(2) Disciplinary actions against a health care providers license, registration or certification;(3) An accreditation report of a health care provider or health care facility; and(4) An assessment of a civil or criminal penalty.(b) In any action brought alleging inappropriate staffing or inadequate supervision, if the health care facility or health care provider demonstrates compliance with the minimum staffing requirements under state law, the health care facility or health care provider is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that appropriate staffing and adequate supervision of patients to prevent accidents were provided, and the jury shall be instructed accordingly.(c) In any action brought alleging inappropriate staffing or inadequate supervision, if staffing is less than the minimum staffing requirements under state law, then there is a rebuttable presumption that there was inadequate supervision of patients and that inadequate staffing or inadequate supervision was a contributing cause of the patients fall and injuries or death arising therefrom, and the jury shall be instructed accordingly. (d) Information under this section may only be introduced in a proceeding if it is otherwise admissible under the West Virginia Rules of Evidence.
WV Code § 55-7B-8 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7B. Medical Professional Liability|§55-7B-8. Limit on Liability for Noneconomic Loss

(a) In any professional liability action brought against a health care provider pursuant to this article, the maximum amount recoverable as compensatory damages for noneconomic loss may not exceed $250,000 for each occurrence, regardless of the number of plaintiffs or the number of defendants or, in the case of wrongful death, regardless of the number of distributees, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section.(b) The plaintiff may recover compensatory damages for noneconomic loss in excess of the limitation described in subsection (a) of this section, but not in excess of $500,000 for each occurrence, regardless of the number of plaintiffs or the number of defendants or, in the case of wrongful death, regardless of the number of distributees, where the damages for noneconomic losses suffered by the plaintiff were for: (1) Wrongful death; (2) permanent and substantial physical deformity, loss of use of a limb or loss of a bodily organ system; or (3) permanent physical or mental functional injury that permanently prevents the injured person from being able to independently care for himself or herself and perform life-sustaining activities.(c) On January 1, 2004, and in each year thereafter, the limitation for compensatory damages contained in subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall increase to account for inflation by an amount equal to the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Department of Labor, not to exceed one hundred fifty percent of the amounts specified in said subsections. (d) The limitations on noneconomic damages contained in subsections (a), (b), (c) and (e) of this section are not available to any defendant in an action pursuant to this article which does not have medical professional liability insurance in the aggregate amount of at least $1 million for each occurrence covering the medical injury which is the subject of the action.(e) If subsection (a) or (b) of this section, as enacted during the 2003 regular session of the Legislature, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is found by a court of law to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the maximum amount recoverable as damages for noneconomic loss in a professional liability action brought against a health care provider under this article shall thereafter not exceed $1 million.
WV Code § 55-7B-9b (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7B. Medical Professional Liability|§55-7B-9b. Limitations on Third-Party Claims

An action may not be maintained against a health care provider pursuant to this article by or on behalf of a third-party nonpatient for rendering or failing to render health care services to a patient whose subsequent act is a proximate cause of injury or death to the third party unless the health care provider rendered or failed to render health care services in willful and wanton or reckless disregard of a foreseeable risk of harm to third persons. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the personal representative of a deceased patient from maintaining a wrongful death action on behalf of such patient pursuant to article seven of this chapter or to prevent a derivative claim for loss of consortium arising from injury or death to the patient arising from the negligence of a health care provider within the meaning of this article.
WV Code § 55-7B-9d (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7B. Medical Professional Liability|§55-7B-9d. Adjustment of Verdict for Past Medical Expenses

A verdict for past medical expenses is limited to:(1) The total amount of past medical expenses paid by or on behalf of the plaintiff; and(2) The total amount of past medical expenses incurred but not paid by or on behalf of the plaintiff for which the plaintiff or another person on behalf of the plaintiff is obligated to pay.
WV Code § 55-7B-10 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7B. Medical Professional Liability|§55-7B-10. Effective Date; Applicability of Provisions

(a) The provisions of House Bill 149, enacted during the first extraordinary session of the Legislature, 1986, shall be effective at the same time that the provisions of Enrolled Senate Bill 714, enacted during the regular session of the Legislature, 1986, become effective, and the provisions of said House Bill 149 shall be deemed to amend the provisions of Enrolled Senate Bill 714. The provisions of this article shall not apply to injuries which occur before the effective date of said Enrolled Senate Bill 714.The amendments to this article as provided in House Bill 601, enacted during the sixth extraordinary session of the Legislature, 2001, apply to all causes of action alleging medical professional liability which are filed on or after March 1, 2002.The amendments to this article provided in Enrolled Committee Substitute for House Bill 2122 during the regular session of the Legislature, 2003, apply to all causes of action alleging medical professional liability which are filed on or after July 1, 2003.(b) The amendments to this article provided in Enrolled Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 6 during the regular session of the Legislature, 2015, apply to all causes of action alleging medical professional liability which are filed on or after July 1, 2015.(c) The amendments to this article provided in Enrolled Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 338 during the regular session of the Legislature, 2017, apply to all causes of action alleging medical professional liability which arise or accrue on or after July 1, 2017.
WV Code § 55-7B-11 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7B. Medical Professional Liability|§55-7B-11. Severability

(a) If any provision of this article as enacted during the first extraordinary session of the Legislature, 1986, in House Bill 149, or as enacted during the regular session of the Legislature, 1986, in Senate Bill 714, or as enacted during the regular session of the Legislature, 2015, or in Senate Bill 338, as enacted during the regular session of the Legislature, 2017, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this article, and to this end, the provisions of this article are declared to be severable.(b) If any provision of the amendments to section five of this article, any provision of section six-d of this article or any provision of the amendments to section eleven, article six, chapter fifty-six of this code as provided in House Bill 601, enacted during the sixth extraordinary session of the Legislature, 2001, is held invalid, or the application thereof to any person is held invalid, then, notwithstanding any other provision of law, every other provision of said House Bill 601 shall be deemed invalid and of no further force and effect.(c) If any provision of the amendments to section six or ten of this article or any provision of section six-a, six-b or six-c of this article as provided in House Bill 601, enacted during the sixth extraordinary session of the Legislature, 2001, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this article, and to this end, such provisions are deemed severable.
WV Code § 55-7C-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7C. Immunity From Civil Liability for Qualified Directors of Certain Governmental and Nonprofit Entities|§55-7C-1. Findings and Declaration of Public Purpose

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the citizens of this state have been and should continue to be well served by those serving without compensation on various boards, commissions, committees, agencies and other organizations of the state, and its political subdivisions, of nonprofit corporations and other organizations engaged in religious, charitable, cultural, benevolent, educational and scientific endeavors, child placement or child care, or indigent or elderly care, and of organizations that advocate the interests of their members with respect to the trades, industries and businesses of the state; that in recent years, the cost of insurance coverage for such persons has risen dramatically while the nature and extent of coverage has diminished; that in order to enable persons to willingly serve as qualified directors, as hereinafter defined, the Legislature must provide those qualified directors with limited immunity from civil liability; and that the enactment of this article serves a necessary public purpose. This article is enacted in view of these findings and shall be liberally construed in the light thereof.
WV Code § 55-7C-3 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7C. Immunity From Civil Liability for Qualified Directors of Certain Governmental and Nonprofit Entities|§55-7C-3. Limited Civil Liability of Qualified Directors

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a qualified director is not personally liable for negligence, either through act or omission, or whether actual or imputed, in the performance of managerial functions performed on behalf of a volunteer organization or entity: Provided, That this section shall not exempt a qualified director from liability when he or she is found to be grossly negligent in the performance of his or her duties. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, a qualified director is not personally liable for the torts of a volunteer organization or entity, or the torts of the agents or employees of a volunteer organization or entity, unless he or she approved of, ratified, directed, sanctioned, or participated in the wrongful acts. (c) Nothing in this section relieves a volunteer organization or entity from imputed liability for the negligent acts of a qualified director committed within the scope of the qualified director’s duties. Nothing in this article shall be construed as a grant of immunity to any person who, through his or her operation of a motor vehicle, causes any injury or damage to another person.
WV Code § 55-7C-4 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7C. Immunity From Civil Liability for Qualified Directors of Certain Governmental and Nonprofit Entities|§55-7C-4. Applicability of Provisions

The provisions of this article shall not apply to any cause of action arising before July 1, 1988.
WV Code § 55-7D-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7D. Good Samaritan Food Donation Act|§55-7D-1. Legislative Findings

The Legislature finds that wholesale and retail food distributors, shipping terminals and other establishments across the state are disposing of food that could be made available to those in need. However, many potential food donors are discouraged from donating this food because of potential liability. The United States Congress has recognized the need to encourage food distributors to make otherwise disposed-of food products available to those in need and has adopted Title 42 United States Code §1791 entitled the "Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act." This federal law encourages state and local governments to enact good samaritan or donor liability limitation laws to encourage private cooperative efforts to provide food for hungry people within their respective jurisdictions. The Legislature finds that this is a worthy goal, and therefore it is appropriate for the state to encourage participation in food donation programs by providing a statutory framework to protect food donators from liability for their good faith efforts.
WV Code § 55-7D-2 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7D. Good Samaritan Food Donation Act|§55-7D-2. Definitions

As used in this section:(a) "Apparently fit grocery product" means a grocery product that meets all quality and labeling standards imposed by federal, state and local laws and regulations even though the product may not be readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, grade, size, surplus or other conditions.(b) "Apparently wholesome food" means food that meets all quality and labeling standards imposed by federal, state and local laws and regulations even though the food may not be readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, grade, size, surplus or other conditions.(c) "Donate" means to give without requiring anything of monetary value from the recipient, except that the term includes donations by one nonprofit organization to another nonprofit organization, notwithstanding that the donor organization has charged a nominal fee to the donee organization, if the ultimate recipient or user is not required to give anything of monetary value.(d) "Food" means any raw, cooked, processed or prepared edible substance, ice, beverage or ingredient used or intended for use, in whole or in part, for human consumption.(e) "Gleaner" means a person who harvests a donated agricultural crop for free distribution to the needy or for donation to a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution to the needy.(f) "Grocery product" means a nonfood grocery product, including disposable paper or plastic products, household cleaning supplies, laundry detergent or other household item.(g) "Gross negligence" means voluntary and conscious conduct, including a failure to act, by a person who, at the time of the conduct, knew that the conduct was likely to be harmful to the health or well-being of another person.(h) "Intentional misconduct" means conduct by a person with knowledge, at the time of the conduct, that the conduct is harmful to the health or well-being of another person.(i) "Nonprofit organization" means an incorporated or unincorporated entity that:(1) Is operating for religious, charitable or educational purposes; and(2) Does not provide net earnings to or operate in any other manner that inures to the benefit of, any officer, employee or shareholder of the entity.(j) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, organization, association or governmental entity, including a retail grocer, wholesaler, hotel, motel, manufacturer, restaurant, caterer, farmer, nonprofit food distributor or hospital. In the case of a corporation, partnership, organization, association or governmental entity, the term includes an officer, director, partner, deacon, trustee, council member or other elected or appointed individual responsible for the governance of the entity.
WV Code § 55-7D-3 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 55. Actions, Suits and Arbitration; Judicial Sale|Article 7D. Good Samaritan Food Donation Act|§55-7D-3. Limiting Liability of Persons or Corporations Who Donate Food or Grocery Products; Exceptions

(a) A person or gleaner is not subject to civil liability or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging or condition of apparently wholesome food or an apparently fit grocery product which the person or gleaner donates in good faith to a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution without profit or gain to needy individuals: Provided, That this limitation on liability does not apply to an injury to or the death of an ultimate user or recipient of the food or grocery product which results from an act or omission of the person or gleaner which constitutes gross negligence or intentional misconduct.(b) A nonprofit organization is not subject to civil liability or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging or condition of apparently wholesome food or an apparently fit grocery product which the nonprofit organization received as a donation in good faith from a person or gleaner for ultimate distribution without profit or gain to needy individuals: Provided, That this limitation on liability does not apply to an injury to or the death of an ultimate user or recipient of the food or grocery product which results from an act or omission of the nonprofit organization which constitutes gross negligence or intentional misconduct.