Supreme Court to hear appeal of Ruby Memorial case

CHARLESTON -- A woman's appeal of a Monongalia Circuit Court decision that stripped her of $9 million of a $10 million verdict against a Morgantown hospital.

Justices will hear oral arguments Oct. 23 in the case involving Allison Riggs. She sued Ruby Memorial Hospital after a 1995 knee surgery left her with an infection. She was 14.

Last year, a jury awarded Riggs $10 million in damages. But Circuit Judge Robert B. Stone soon reduced that amount to $1 million,
citing limits under the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act.

Riggs' appeal argues that the $1 million limit doesn't apply in this case.