The Maryland Court of Appeals has issued a new decision on the law of informed consent in Maryland medical malpractice cases. According to the court, doctors must inform patients not only of the risks of procedures but also the potential consequences of forgoing a medical procedure. The decision is a…
Maryland has enacted significant limitations on the ability of Plaintiffs to use expert witnesses in Maryalnd medical malpractice cases. In 1976, the Maryland Health Claims Arbitration Act was enacted to help address a perceived medical malpractice insurance crisis. In 1986, the legislature further amended the Act to include a certificate…
When most people think of a medical malpractice case, they think about the kind of case in which the plaintiff (the party bringing the case) claims that a doctor of hosptial has acted below the standard of care and caused significnat injury in a patient. Another type of medcial malpractice…
Many of my Maryland medical malpractice clients ask me whether there is any possibility that they can claim or recover punitive damages in their cases. The answer in every case is no. In Maryland, in order to recover puntive damages, the Maryland Court of Appeals (Maryland’s “Supreme Court”) decided in…
Many peole ask what type of damages they can get in a medical malpractice / medical negligenc cases. One type is lost wages. Maryland courts have repeatedly acknowledged the legitimacy of lost wage claims in negligence cases. For instance, in Adams v. Benson, 208 Md. 261, 270-271, 117 A.2d 881,…
Generally, recovery in Maryland for malpractice against a physician/psychiatrist is allowed only where there is a relationship between the doctor and patient. This relationship may be established by contract, express or implied, and the fact that a physician does not deal directly with a patient does not necessarily preclude the…
A New York trial judge has ordered a new trial on damages in the malpractice case of a businessman left permanently paralyzed after a stroke. The plaintiff was awarded $5 million in April after a jury trial. The judge, however, set aside the verdict last week with respect to damages,…
The Massachusetts Supreme Court issued a written decision yesterday in a medical malpractice case, finding that doctors can be held liable for medical negligence that reduces a patient’s chance of survival, even if the patient’s probability for recovery was already less than 50 percent. The Massachusetts Supreme Court’s ruling came…
Under Maryland Rule 2-501(a), summary judgment is only appropriate where there is no dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Therefore a motion for summary judgment should be denied where the opposing party has shown that “there is a genuine…
Maryland is one of the many states that cap, or limit, certain types of damages in medical malpractice cases. Under current Maryland law, medical malpractice damages for pain, suffering and emotional distress are capped at $650,000. That cap will not change until the end of this year (December 31, 2008),…