Maryland Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Cut Bile Duct Settlements: Gallbladder Injury

2010-02-24T21:59:04Z

According to USLaw, the average settlement in a cut bile duct gallbladder medical malpractice case is $250,000.

Famous Medical Malpractice Cases

2010-02-23T17:04:02Z

Two of the most famous medical malpractice cases - at least potentially - in history have occurred in the last year: Joe Murtha and Michael Jackson. In Maryland, we also recently had the St. Joseph's stent debacle which may go down in Maryland history as its most famous medical malpractice cases.

What has surprised a lot of medical malpractice lawyers is how little these cases have reflected the public mood on malpractice. People who learn of these cases simply process them consistent with the world view they already had on the topic of whether malpractice cases are largely meritorious and whether the system needs to be changed.

Malpractice During Colonoscopy

2010-02-11T18:17:20Z

The Maryland Daily Record reports that a Baltimore City jury ordered a doctor to pay $670,000 to a man who required emergency surgery to remove a portion of his colon because of injuries suffered during a routine colonoscopy in 2006. The doctor allegedly punctured Johnson's colon in several places during the colonscopy according to the complaint. Johnson was taken to the ER at Siani Hospitalwhere surgeons removed some of his colon (Siani was not named in the lawsuit).

Medication Errors in Maryland

2009-12-09T18:36:17Z

One cause of malpractice injuries in Maryland is medication errors. Most are harmless but a minority of medication mistakes end in tragedy.

Two leading health care organizations announce a plan to reduce medication errors, announcing a new national alert system that helps prevent dangerous and repeated medication errors. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) are partnering to develop the National Alert Network for Serious Medication Errors (NAN).

Will it help? Who knows? But we need to try more solutions to the medical error problem in this country, even if it means a few failed plans.

Health Care Reform and Our Malpractice Tort Laws

2009-09-01T16:18:26Z

Humbert J. Polito Jr., of Polito & Quinn, LLC and president of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association writes this editorial about tort reform and health care.

Malpractice and Health Care: Medical Malpractice Does Not Rise to the Tail That Wags the Dog

2009-09-01T15:53:11Z

Good line from Tom Baker, a professor of law and health sciences at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and author of "The Medical Malpractice Myth," in the New York Times:

"According to the actuarial consulting firm Towers Perrin, medical malpractice tort costs were $30.4 billion in 2007, the last year for which data are available. We have a more than a $2 trillion health care system. That puts litigation costs and malpractice insurance at 1 to 1.5 percent of total medical costs. That's a rounding error. Liability isn't even the tail on the cost dog. It's the hair on the end of the tail."

Baker's conclusion is that medical malpractice reform is a red herring for those who don't want real change in health care. This might be a legitimate concern but these folks are using malpractice as an intellecutally dishonest sword in their battle.

Certifcate of Merit in Medical Malpractice Cases

2009-08-18T19:53:23Z

Maryland's Medical Malpractice Act was enacted "for purposes of weeding out non-meritorious claims and to reduce the costs of litigation. Walzer v. Osborne, 395 Md. 563, 582 (2006). Accordingly, Maryland requires a certificate of merit as a gatekeeper to keep out medical malpractice lawsuit that do not have merit.

The goal of the certificate requirement to weed out nonmeritorious claims at an early stage. The problem is that defendant's medical malpractice lawyers are using this opportunity to try to weed out good malpractice lawsuits on technicalities instead of the merits.

This is a example certificate for a medical malpractice lawsuit in Maryland.

Summary of Maryland Malpractice Law

2009-08-03T20:10:41Z

For malpractice lawyers looking at Maryland malpractice law, we have put together a summary of Maryland medical malpractice law.

Malpractice Statute of Limitations in Maryland and New York

2009-07-20T13:25:28Z

The statute of limitations in New York for medical malpractice is two and one-half years from the date of injury. The New York medical malpractice statute may be extended in cases where there is continuous treatment by the doctor who committed the malpractice, or when the medical provider has left a foreign object in your body.

In Maryland, to overrsimplify at bit, he medical malpractice statute limitations is three years which, in some case can be extended to five if the Plaintiff could not have known of the connection of the injuries and the malpractice. Arguably, Maryland medical malpractice law imposes a statute of repose which means that five years is an absolutely cutoff.

Geri Barish, the president of 1 in 9: The Long Island Breast Cancer Coalition, said she supports a bill in the New York legislature extending the amount of time one could file a lawsuit from 2.5 years after a medical malpractice mistake is made to 2.5 years after the link between the malpractice and the injury is discovered.

Obviously, this rule is supported by Maryland malpractice lawyers in Maryland as well for a simple reason: it creates less frequently results that offend everyday notions of justice. It you can never bring a malpractice lawsuit because you just didn't know your doctor's careless caused your injury, that is just not fair.

Maryland Hospital Infections

2009-07-13T16:04:38Z

The Maryland Malpractice Lawyer Blog has a post on hospital infection lawsuits in Maryland.The summary: the notion that "infections just happen" in the absence of negligence is a dying theory because hospitals that have set their mind to becoming infection free have - as this post illustrates - stunningly better data on hospital infections.If you are looking for a lawyer for your Maryland staph infection claim, call 800-553-8082 or click her for a free consultation via the Internet

Medication Mistake Lawyer in Maryland

2009-07-06T19:10:44Z

U.S. Pharmacopeia released a report last year analyzing medical records from 1998-2005/ The report found that patients who undergo surgery have the highest risk of a medication mistake. The report found over 11,000 medical errors before surgery. Most of these errors - 95% of the medication errors, according to the study - were harmless. But many of the remaining errors caused serious injury.

Notably, children suffered the highest risk of a medication error with injury. Nearly 12% medication mistakes in kids cause injury.

Most of the reported errors involved the use of antibiotics and pain medications. The most commonly reported medication mistakes involved giving the wrong amount of medication, giving the medication at the wrong time, omitting a dose of medication, or administration of the medication incorrectly.

Arizona Moves to Protect ER Doctors from Liability

2009-06-23T19:18:51Z

The Arizona Senate has voted to make it harder to successfully sue emergency medical providers for alleged malpractice.

The Arizona's Senate's 21-8 vote Monday approving a bill to raise the required burden of proof for claims of negligent care sends the measure to the House. The article is unclear but I think I recall that the new standard is "clear and convincing" evidence. A harder hill to climb for malpractice victims in Arizona.

Former Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed the same bill in the past. Far away as the head of Homeland Security, I doubt she is thrilled that the Arizona legislature is rolling over for the doctor's lobby and her replacement is likely to sign the bill if it passes the Arizona House.

Malpractice Reform Editorials

2009-06-22T19:24:30Z

The New York Times provides editorial comment on its article on medical malpractice reform. Everyone wants to have "no fault" medical malpractice claims. Setting aside that it is just not a fair system, no one every bothers to provide numbers on what it would cost. The answer: a lot more than our current system.

Value of Mouth and Teeth Injuries

2009-06-18T14:45:53Z

The median compensatory award for teeth and mouth soft tissue injuries, infections, gum disease, nerve damage, and TMJ injuries is $25,000, according to Jury Verdict Research's recent study earlier this year.

This is not a particularly telling statistic for settlement value of individual cases.

Medical Tourism

2009-06-01T14:50:44Z

One disturbing response to the high cost of health care - particularly elective treatments that require medical doctors - is medical tourism. This is an interesting article on the pros and cons of medical tourism.As the article points out, the biggest problem is knowing what you are getting into abroad and the inability to access who can do what well.