Jury awards $2.2 million in malpractice lawsuit The Virginian-Pilot © October 7, 2006 SUFFOLK - A jury awarded a widow and her children $2.2 million this week in a medical malpractice lawsuit accusing a local doctor and nurse of negligence. The jury's award will be reduced to $1.7 million, the state cap for medical malpractice lawsuits. The verdict in Circuit Court on Thursday ended a four-day trial against Dr. David F. Waller, nurse Elizabeth Ann Proctor and Family Medicine Associates. The suit, filed after the death of Derek S. Dokes in November 2003, focused on the care given to the< 34-year-old in the days before his death. Dokes had chills, shortness of breath, a high temperature and leg pain when he first visited Waller at Family Medicine Associates, according to a complaint filed by Dokes' wife, Angela. See the complete Pilot, exactly as in print - View stories, photos and ads - E-mail clippings - Print copies Log in or learn more Dokes received painkillers, anti-inflammatory therapy and muscle relaxers on his first visit, according to the complaint. Three days later, he returned to Family Medicine Associates and again received no physical exam or lab analysis; i nstead, Proctor sent him home with a painkiller, the complaint said. The next day, an ambulance took Dokes to Sentara Obici Hospital, where he died that night of organ failure related to a strep infection. Neither the defenda nts nor their attorneys could not be reached for comment. Dokes was a manager at an insurance company and supported five children, three of which were his, said Lawrence Woodward, Angela Dokes' attorney.