Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

A Missouri woman has settled a medical malpractice lawsuit for $2.5 million. The woman was treated at University Hospital in early 2005 for dehydration, which was the result of a gastrointestinal condition. Apparently, doctors infused her with nutritional supplements through an IV in her subclavian artery, just below the collarbone, instead of the subclavian vein, where it was supposed to go. This caused fatty blockages to travel to her brain for five consecutive days, causing severe strokes and neurological and mental impairment. She is mentally and physically handicapped as a result. A copy of the article regarding this case can be found here.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled a number of medical malpractice cases involving the incorrect administration of mediation or nutrition through IVs. These cases usually involve clear medical negligence as the wrong product (medication or nutrition), dosage or entry point is used. In one case, a hospital gave the wrong medication dosage to a patient causing the patient to die. The error was clear from the medical records. In another case, a woman was given 5 times the proper dosage of nutrition supplement causing her to go into cardiac arrest and die. These are terribly upsetting cases because they can easily be prevented with just a little care and attention. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

A Texas jury has awarded a man $10 million in a medical malpractice case. The man had an allergic reaction to the blood thinner Heparin. During surgery, he suffered what's called Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia or H.I.T., which is a complication where the blood clots instead of thinning, stopping the blood flow to the extremities. As a result, the man lost his leg from thigh down, part of his right foot and a several fingers. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.

I have successfully handled a number of medical malpractice cases in Baltimore and other counties in Maryland involving use of blood thinners. In fact, I successfully handled a similar case to this, where a woman developed a clotting disorder after delivering a child, resulting in the woman losing her uterus.

Interestingly, the man may be the last to receive this kind of award in Texas. He filed his case before a new law took place which caps pain and suffering awards at $250,000. These type of cap are draconian, as they prevent seriously injured people from recovering the true value of their case, and also severely limit the number of attorneys who can afford to lay out $100,000 in expenses only to recover a fee of about that amount.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I am frequently asked to comment on malpractice cases from around the county. Recently, a Chicago hospital settled a case for $3 million after it failed to properly treat a toddler for an allergic reaction to penicillin, which had been given to her for an ear infection despite previous signs of an allergy to the medication. The suit and an Illinois Appellate Court decision tied to the case suggest that efforts by the hospital's risk manager, who is not employed there any longer, to investigate the girl's death may have been obstructed by hospital administrators. Apparently, syringes, Intravenous tubes and other medical materials, which were physical evidence of the girl's treatment that day , were tossed minutes after she died. To see an article about the case, click here .

I have handled a number of medical malpractice cases in Baltimore, Maryland and other places involving medication errors. Most of the cases fall into two categories: giving a patient a medication they are allergic to or giving the patient the wrong medication. In fact, I am handling two such cases now. In this day and age of extensive documentation, these kind of medication errors shouldn’t happen. There is no excuse. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here .

A Delaware jury has awarded a family $1.6 million in a medical malpractice case in which the wrong prescription medicine was allegedly prescribed by a doctor. In this particular case, the woman was given too much of a heart medication for her kidneys to handle. Since she was on dialysis, her body couldn’t process the amount of the drug that they gave her and she died.
A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.

These days, with more and more prescription drugs on the market, it is all to easy for doctors to make a mistake and prescribe the wrong medicine, or the wrong dose. Sometimes a doctor’s handwriting is so bad that the pharmacy can’t read the writing, and the pharmacy doesn’t call the doctor to clarify the handwriting, leading to serious and sometimes fatal prescription / medication errors.