Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog
Nearly twenty years ago, a patient in Missouri underwent a hysterectomy with lymph node dissection. Shortly after this procedure, she developed lymphedema, or swelling of the legs. This condition required her to undergo physical therapy and medical monitoring for more than a decade. Several years after she was released from monitoring, the patient began experiencing pain in her left leg and foot again. She proceeded to consult several doctors about the pain, and eventually saw an orthopedic surgeon. The patient described her symptoms as numbness, tingling and redness in her foot. The orthopedic surgeon diagnosed her with lymphedema again and other related neurological issues, and recommended she follow up with her neurologist.
Birth Injury Lawsuit Results in $6.5 Million Settlement
The parents of a child born with severe brain damage at a military hospital in Fort Hood, Texas recently settled their medical malpractice lawsuit against the United States government for $6.5 million. The medical malpractice lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin, alleged physicians ignored evidence that the mother’s contractions were over-stimulated by the excessive use of oxytocin, which caused severe distress in the baby and forced the mother to deliver by emergency Cesarean-section.
Dentist’s Negligence Causes Severe Brain Damage, Death to Three-Year-Old Girl
When you hear the words “medical malpractice,” what is the first thought that comes to mind? For most people, it probably is that a hospital or physician made a serious medical mistake. However, medical malpractice does not just cover physicians and their medical team, but dentists, too. And sometimes dentists can make tragic mistakes.
Medical Malpractice Brain Aneurysm – Failure to Timely Diagnose and Treat
A family, whose daughter died as a result of an untreated brain aneurysm, recently has settled their wrongful death lawsuit against a medical group comprised of more than 400 doctors, prior to the case going to trial.
Medical Malpractice Settlement For Failure to Diagnose and Treat Diabetes
It should go without saying that a person who enters a hospital has certain expectations of the level of care they will receive and how the medical staff will behave. Hospitals can be frightening and intimidating, and patients rely on their physicians to ease their apprehensions and concerns. Above all, patients expect to receive the highest level of care, both quickly and meticulously. In this same vein, doctors are expected, and even trained, to make the proper decisions when the time comes to make a diagnosis or recommend the appropriate treatment.
Birth Injury Medical Malpractice Suit Settles for $7.5 Million
Patients place incredible trust in their physicians and medical professionals when they visit hospitals for identifying or treating a medical problem. That trust comes with a responsibility on the part of the medical team, from doctors to nurses and nurse’s assistants, to conduct themselves in a reasonably careful manner under the circumstances. Patients cannot always expect perfection or treatment free of risk, but they do have the right to expect reasonable and safe care from the medical staff. When a physician or any medical staffer fails to provide that level of care, victims should consider a medical malpractice lawsuit so that they can have the financial ability to pay for extensive medical care that medical negligence can cost.
Pediatrician’s Failure to Diagnose Heart Condition Results in $7 Million Verdict for Parents in Maryland
Being a parent – especially for the first time – often brings tremendous fear and the unknown. Many parents are overwhelmed, inexperienced and afraid that something might go wrong with their precious newborn. Parents rely heavily on their pediatrician to ease these fears and calm them down. On top of their counseling role, pediatricians certainly are responsible for monitoring and detecting the health of a newborn. For obvious reasons, choosing a pediatrician who they can trust is a special and serious task for parents. However, for one Maryland couple, their fears were falsely eased by the pediatrician they chose. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.
Court Clears The Way Settlement Talks Between Johns Hopkins and Attorneys of Dr. Nikita Levy Patients
Today, lawyers for victims of former Johns Hopkins obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Nikita Levy announced that a class action has been conditionally certified to resolve the victims’ claims. As many will recall, this past February, patients of Dr. Nikita Levy learned through the media that Dr. Levy had admitted to filming patients during examinations. A subsequent search of his home by police revealed “computer servers” that contained photographs and videos of his patients. Within days, before he could be brought to justice, Dr. Levy took his own life.
Orthopedic Surgeon’s Medical Negligence Leads to Paralysis
Patients expect that their doctors will take good care of them and do whatever necessary to stabilize or treat their condition. However, one doctor – an orthopedic surgeon – recently was found guilty of medical malpractice when his actions led to his patient becoming a paraplegic; the jury awarded the patient and his wife $2.85 million.
Doctor’s Type 2 Diabetes Misdiagnosis Turns Fatal
A New York jury in a medical malpractice recently found that a pediatric endocrinologist was guilty of medical negligence that caused the wrongful death of a six-year-old girl, and awarded the mother an $8 million verdict. Sadly, the girl died shortly after a non-board certified pediatric endocrinologist misdiagnosed her diabetes.
Obstetrician’s Medical Malpractice Results in $4 Million Verdict
For a parent, one of the greatest fears is that something bad will happen to their child. Mothers take special care when pregnant to ensure that their child is born healthy and will develop correctly. However, one thing that mothers cannot avoid is the risk of complications during the birthing process.
Jury Awards More Than $950,000 in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Recently, in a medical malpractice wrongful death case in Harford County, Maryland, a jury awarded more than $958,000 to the family of a woman who died after receiving “excessive amounts” of pain medication during a hospital stay. According to the lawsuit, the woman’s death resulted from the hospital providing hospice care rather than standard treatment for her infected ulcers.
Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death in Hospitals – An Alarming Trend
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine estimated that each year 98,000 Americans die as a result of medical malpractice. A recent study published in the Journal of Patient Safety says that number now is estimated to be between 210,000 and 440,000 patients. The new estimates, developed by John T. James, a toxicologist at NASA’s space center in Houston and leader of an advocacy organization called Patient Safety America, were based on the findings of four recent studies which examined records of more than 4,200 patients hospitalized between 2002 and 2008. A copy of the article can be found here.
State Medical Boards Are Slow To Discipline Doctors
A recent USA Today investigation has revealed that thousands of doctors who have been banned by hospitals or other medical facilities are not punished by their state medical boards. Many of these sanctions were due to medical malpractice. A copy of the report can be found here.
Medical Malpractice Claims Against Primary Care Providers
A recent study in the British Medical Journal Open, The Epidemiology of Malpractice Claims in Primary Care: a Systematic Review, has addressed how often medical malpractice and wrongful death claims filed against primary care physicians worldwide. Authors of the study conducted a systematic search of more than 7,000 medical articles to find data involving medical malpractice trends and studies. Articles were included in the review if they involved at least ten medical malpractice claims based in primary care. Of the 239,756 closed medical negligence claims in the U.S. filed between 1985 and 2008, primary care physicians represented 11% of all claims. Another review of 1,452 claims in the U.S. revealed that primary care ranked third, representing 16% of claims.