In deciding personal jurisdiction in a medical malpractice suit, the Virginia Supreme Court determined that North Carolina physicians’ responses to a Virginia patient through various form of communication were not sufficient to establish purposeful availment.
The Virginia Supreme Court unanimously concluded Virginia courts did not have personal jurisdiction over a case brought by Katherine Louise Carter, on behalf of her late father, Worth Harris Carter Jr., against Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and Wake Forest University Health Sciences in North Carolina. The plaintiff accused the Wake Forest defendants of failing to diagnose her father’s skin cancer in a timely manner, despite frequent communications via Wake Forest’s health portal and appointments.