Keene v. Yates

OPINION AND ORDER

JONES, District Judge.

The question in this diversity case is whether Virginia law permits the parents of a deceased minor child to pursue a claim for the child’s medical expenses against the tortfeasor, even though an action for wrongful death of the child arising out of the same accident is pending. I hold that the action is not precluded and therefore deny the pending motion for summary judgment.

I

The plaintiffs’ seventeen-year-old son, Matthew Todd Keene, was involved in an automobile accident in Buchanan County, Virginia, on September 12,1998. Matthew died on September 19,…