Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

A Connecticut jury has awarded more than $1.3 million in a medical malpractice case. In the case, the plaintiff sued her oncologists alleging that they treated her for years for the wrong form of cancer, which led to the removal of part of her intestines and colon.

What makes the case especially unusual is that the case included a claim for damages on behalf of the woman’s longtime partner who had joined the woman in a civil union . In the litigation, a judge threw out the partner’s claims, holding that while the woman had been partners for more than 20 years they were not legally joined at the time of the alleged negligence. A brief article regarding the case can be found here.

If such a case is brought in Maryland, it will be interesting to see what the result is. Maryland’s wrongful death statute, section 3-904 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, a copy of which is below, allows claims for by a parent, spouse or child of the deceased person. The claim is for emotional distress and financial loss due to the death of family member. These are the most common type of wrongful death claim, as there is frequently a parent, spouse or child of the deceased alive to pursue such a case. The term “spouse” is not defined in the section where the statute is contained, so one certainly could argue that a person who participates in a lawful civil union ceremony is a "spouse" for purposes of the wrongful death act. If that argument doesn’t work, the Maryland wrongful death act includes a provision to allow for economic losses by certain people if there is no parent, spouse or child of the deceased. Those claims are for people related to the deceased by blood or marriage. Again, it can be argued that “marriage” is not defined, so that could cover a person who participates in a lawful civil union ceremony. It’s only a matter of time before this is tested.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled many wrongful death cases on behalf of parents, spouses and children of the deceased. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

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A South Carolina jury has awarded a $3 million verdict in a medical malpractice case against a South Carolina hospital and emergency room doctor. The case was filed by the husband of a woman who died after being improperly discharged from the hospital.

The woman was seen in the emergency room with complaints of stomach and back pain. Instead of being admitted, the woman was diagnosed with a kidney stone, given pain pills and asked to return several days later. But the woman didn’t make it to the future appointment. Instead, she died of septic shock, otherwise known as sepsis, approximately 2 days hours after she was discharged. A copy of an article regarding the case can be found here.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled a number of medical negligence cases against doctors and hospitals for failure to timely and properly treat infections. These cases sometimes require an expert in the field of the doctor accused of malpractice and an infectious disease expert. A central issue always is casuation - in other words, whether there was enough time to reverse the person's infection prior to serious injuries or death. Damages usually ragnge from severe and permanent injury to death. Sometimes, limbs are lost due to the effect of the infection on the body. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

An Ohio jury has awarded $1.5 million dollars to a in a medical malpractice case against two doctors. The jury found that a doctor committed malpractice during a bone marrow biopsy in which a nerve was nicked and an artery was damaged. Apparently, the problem went undiscovered for five days and doctors had to remove two large hematomas from the hip and pelvis. The other doctor was called two days after the procedure but declined to examine the patient. The negligence caused the man to lose he use of his right leg below the knee, and resulted in chronic pain. A copy of an article regarding the case can be found here.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled a number of medical malpractice cases involving vascular injuries and nerve injuries. These can be difficult cases because the defense is that the procedure is done relatively blindly and injury to a blood vessels and nerves and this can happen, but there are procedures to minimize the risk of such injuries and they clearly were not followed in this case. Moreover, the failure of the subsequent treating doctor to see the patient was clear malpractice.

In an article published today, the New York Times has continued its expose on radiation overdoses of patients. Previous articles have focused on over radiation of patients undergoing radiation therapy for cancer. This time, the Times focuses on radiation overdoses of patients undergoing medical tests involving radiation. A copy of the most recent article can be found here.

Since 1895 when x-rays were discovered, it has been well-known that over exposure to x-rays has terrible health consequences. Yet, more than 100 years later, machines still are being manufactured and/or used in such a manner that excess radiation can easily occur and people who operate these machines are still seriously over radiating people. To me, that is malpractice at the minimum, and also should be treated as a criminal offense.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled many medical malpractice cases involving improper hospital procedures These people deserve compensation. Moreover, these cases should be pursued to bring attention to this outrageous form of malrpractice. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.