The Baltimore Sun published an important front-page article yesterday on hospital errors in Maryland. The premise of the article is a simple yet different approach to medical mistakes in Maryland hospitals. It goes like this. We have about 400,000 patients who are killed every year by medical malpractice. How…
One of the great selling points of caps in medical malpractice cases is that it encourages doctors to come to your state to practice. Every state, particularly in jurisdictions with rural areas where access and availability to doctors is a prominent concern, want to attract a healthy supply of doctors…
One hot button issue in Maryland medical malpractice cases today is the circumstances under which defense lawyers can speak to Plaintiff’s treating doctor. For years, this was not an issue. If a defense lawyer wanted to talk to a treating doctor, she would just pick up the phone and call.…
In Valentine-Bowers v. Retina Group of Washington, a new medical malpractice case decided by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the plaintiff alleged that her physician failed to monitor a problem with her eye that caused her to lose vision in that eye. It is a serious injury for a young…
Justice in Malpractice Cases Is Expensive Every single day we get phone calls from prospective clients who want to bring a medical malpractice case. We probably do a full investigation in 5% of these cases and sue in half of those cases. Why so low? In most cases, we…
U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Hollander issued an interesting ruling today in Lopez-Krist v. Salvagno that deals with the actual and apparent agency in the independent contractor doctor at the hospital. This is a tragic case where a 14-year-old boy suffered a broken leg. There were concerns about the blood…
Really tough opinion for medical malpractice plaintiffs in Maryland was issued in U.S. District Court last week. Tangent #1: Why Isn’t This Case in State Court? Technicalities are abound in malpractice cases As a preliminary matter, it is complete garbage that this case is in federal court in the first…
I used to write a lot on this blog about the myths that surround medical malpractice in Maryland and throughout this country. I’ve largely jumped off the soapbox because I realized something: no one is listening. Most readers of this blog are digging into those kinds of posts they already…
Last summer, we were talking about the $55 million cerebral palsy malpractice verdict against Johns Hopkins. This summer the verdict – which was reduced to $28 million – is hanging by a thread after the Maryland Court of Special Appeals overturned the verdict. Unless the Maryland high court sees the…
We have been compiling jury verdict information on our website recently so I have been looking through several jury verdicts. Someone needs to do a study of the statistical differences in outcomes in medical malpractice lawsuits against foreign doctors and those born in the United States. I’m telling you, I…