Jodi Terranova (Partner-Washington, DC) and Sophia Herbst (Associate-Washington, DC) obtained summary judgment in the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of an obstetrician who treated the plaintiff, who presented to the co-defendant hospital at 18+ weeks gestation with her amniotic sac in her vagina. After three days of inpatient management with no change in condition, the plaintiff continued to request expectant management rather than termination of her pregnancy that was at a very high risk for miscarriage. The court found that the plaintiff failed to meet her burden of proof on causation, as her only expert could not testify that any of the alleged interventions that should have been undertaken by client would have, more likely than not, resulted in the survival of the baby until viability (23 weeks gestation). The court also found that the plaintiff failed to timely file the lawsuit against our client, after not naming her in the original lawsuit filed in state court against the co-defendant only. The court determined that the Relation Back Doctrine under Virginia law did not apply to the obstetrician because she was not an agent of the co-defendant hospital.