When you seek medical care, the last thing you expect is to suffer from injuries or worse from your treatment. The law requires healthcare professionals to provide you with treatment that reaches a specific standard or standard of care, and failing to do so could make them susceptible to medical malpractice lawsuits.
Medical malpractice comes in many forms, such as misdiagnosis, medication errors, or surgical mistakes. Filing lawsuits against negligent health care professionals or hospitals involves many complicated steps that our lawyers can help you navigate. We can monitor your damages, file your lawsuit on time, and fight for your fair recovery after suffering injuries from medical negligence.
For a free review of your case from our medical malpractice attorneys, call Rice Law at (410) 694-7291.
How Does Maryland Define Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice refers to a healthcare professional’s failure to provide the care and exercise the skills that other healthcare professionals would use in similar situations. In short, it means that a doctor has breached their duty of care and injured you, making them liable for your damages.
Scope of Malpractice
Maryland allows victims to hold medical professionals accountable when they fail to adhere to appropriate standards of care through medical malpractice lawsuits. This failure to provide appropriate standards of care can apply to general practitioners and specialists alike, to nurses and therapists, and nearly any other healthcare provider or facility.
Standard of Care
You have a medical malpractice case if the healthcare professional violated the “standard of care.” The standard of care is the generally accepted procedures and practices used by medical professionals when treating a particular disease or disorder.
This is not based on what is written in a textbook, and there is no specific list of standards for each procedure. This must be determined based on the totality of the circumstances, in each case.
Identifying Malpractice
You might not identify malpractice immediately, only for you to notice complications down the line, and our lawyers can help you trace your injuries back to poor treatment from a healthcare professional to confirm whether you have a cause of action.
Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case
The damages you can claim depend on what actually happened in your case:
You Can Only Claim Damages You Actually Suffer
Injury claims only allow you to claim damages you actually suffered. From person to person, case to case, the damages may be vastly different depending on what exactly you needed to pay for.
Additional Medical Care Costs
You may have been billed for the care you received, and if it went well, there would be no additional costs. You do not recover those medical bills, but you do recover any additional medical bills you face caused by the malpractice.
For example, the costs of getting a second opinion, new surgical revision, or additional imaging to find an object left inside during surgery can be claimed.
Additional Lost Wages
You may have been planning on missing a certain amount of work because of your original health issues. Those lost wages are not recovered against the doctor, but any additional work you miss because of the malpractice could be.
This can cover increased healing times from errors or the time you need to take off for a second surgery or new doctors’ visits.
Pain and Suffering
Any pain and suffering you face because of the negligent care can be covered. This can include the emotional distress and mental anguish as well as the physical pain.
Lost Chance
In some cases, the doctors’ mistakes take away your chance at a full recovery. This is especially common in misdiagnosis cases, where the delay in diagnosing the correct condition now means you have a more advanced condition that is harder to fight.
This might have even shortened your lifespan, such as in the case of undiagnosed cancer that has now progressed too far to be treated.
Loss of Consortium
When your spouse faces injury, you face damages, too. This can cover lost intimacy, lost household services, and more.
Wrongful Death
If a loved one passed away from negligent medical care, undiagnosed conditions, etc., then your family faces damages such as these:
- Funeral and burial costs
- Lost financial support going forward
- Grief
- Lost advice and counsel
- And more.
How to Prove Negligence in Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Medical malpractice claims are based on the legal theory of negligence, which is the failure to exercise adequate care toward another that a reasonable or prudent person would exercise in a similar situation. In the case of medical malpractice, this negligence can involve an act or omission.
Basic Case Elements
In medical malpractice cases, our lawyers must prove negligence by showing how doctors breached the standard of care for medical professionals, resulting directly in physical, emotional, or mental harm suffered by the patient.
Divergence from Standard of Care
To reach the level of medical malpractice, this diversion from the accepted standard of medical care must be shown to be the direct cause of the harm suffered by the patient. This divergence could mean taking matters into their own hands or trying something new instead of doing what a reasonable doctor would do in the same situation.
Who Judges Whether the Standard of Care was Violated?
It typically takes analysis from other healthcare professionals to determine whether or not the standard of care was violated. This means getting testimony and opinions form professionals who
- Have the same kinds of licenses or training and experience as the doctors or other medical professionals in this case
- Work in the same medical community (practice area, geographic area, etc.)
- Actively practice medicine (i.e., you cannot usually use retired or former doctors or doctors who make a career out of testifying in medical malpractice claims without actually practicing).
Birth Injuries
During childbirth, babies are extremely vulnerable to physical injuries as well as any risks that could cut off the flow of oxygen to their brains. If a doctor fails to screen for complications or risks, the child’s life could be put in danger.
Mistakes in applying force with forceps, failing to perform an emergency C-section and other problems could all lead to issues like nerve damage or conditions like cerebral palsy. There is also the chance of severe injuries to the mother, such as complications involving severe maternal hemorrhage.
Failed and Delayed Diagnosis
Failing to diagnose a condition can lead to further harm. If the doctor misses the patient’s symptoms and fails to get them the proper treatment, their condition will often worsen. In emergencies, failing to diagnose something like a stroke or a heart attack could mean sending a patient home when they need immediate medical care, putting their life at risk.
Failing to catch a severe disease or disorder like cancer could also mean a risk of harm or worsening conditions that could have otherwise been caught early and treated quickly. In such situations, our lawyers would need access to your medical records to confirm the treating physician’s actions and if they performed the appropriate tests or failed to catch obvious warning signs of a serious condition.
Misdiagnosis
A delayed diagnosis is a big problem, but a misdiagnosis could cause even worse complications and more expensive damages for patients in Maryland. While the same effects from a failed or delayed diagnosis are present with a misdiagnosis, you might also begin receiving treatment for the wrong condition if your doctor misdiagnoses you.
This can be extremely dangerous when it comes to cancer treatment involving radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or other intensive therapies. Any unnecessary surgeries or medication can cause risks and side effects that you should not have faced if you were misdiagnosed.
Hospital Errors
In addition to an individual doctor, the hospital at large is responsible for much of your medical care and the coordination of your treatment. From the safety and cleanliness of your hospital room to the day-to-day nursing care, bathing, and treatment you receive, the hospital is responsible for any mix-ups or mistakes that lead to injuries or infections.
Many of the mistakes that constitute “hospital errors” would also fall under other categories of medical malpractice listed here, enabling victims to file lawsuits for compensatory damages in Maryland.
Defective Medical Equipment
If you receive a medical implant or your doctor uses defective tools while treating you, the doctor could be responsible for damages or injuries you suffer. In many cases, the medical device manufacturer could also be liable for putting a defective product on the market.
Many people face injuries from defective pelvic mesh, joint replacements, pacemakers, defibrillators, and other materials used during surgery or rehabilitation, so talk to our medical malpractice attorneys about whom to sue and how your case should proceed if you were injured by defective medical equipment.
Emergency Room Errors
In the emergency room of any hospital, there are often chaotic moments where nurses and hospital staff work to triage patients by severity and get help to those who need it most before those who can wait to be seen.
There is also a level of urgency that often means mistakes are made. If at any point the care you receive dips below the expected quality or you are not treated when you need to be, you could be entitled to sue the hospital for its mistakes.
Surgical Errors
Slip-ups and mistakes in the operating room can leave patients with long-term effects and consequences that could alter their lives. Nicking an artery could turn a routine procedure into an emergency; nicking a nerve could mean the patient loses feeling and control of a body part.
Other surgical errors are more severe, such as performing the wrong procedure on the wrong patient. Surgical errors may have to be addressed with additional surgeries, creating more expensive medical damages and mental anguish for victims, increasing the importance of seeking compensation through a lawsuit.
Prescription Medication Errors
When your doctor prescribes you medication, they should take care to make sure that the side effects are reasonable for you, that you are not allergic to the drug, that the drug does not interfere with other medication you take, and that the drug addresses your condition appropriately.
Mistakes and errors in prescribing medication can often constitute medical malpractice, as patients might not get properly treated while taking the medication, worsening their conditions.
Failure to Properly Treat Conditions
If your doctor’s care does not meet the “standard of care” they should provide, you could be entitled to sue for malpractice. While the doctor’s care does not need to be the best care ever or reach some unattainable standard of perfection, you expect that the care will at least be helpful and that it will conform to standard medical practices to help with your condition.
Anything less could constitute malpractice, and our lawyers can confirm whether you have a cause of action when reviewing your case.
Post-Surgical Infections and Hospital-Acquired Infections
Infections at a hospital are quite common, but that does not always mean that they should be allowed. Many doctors and medical professionals have a standard practice of prescribing prophylactic antibiotics after surgery to prevent infection.
Hospital rooms should also be clean, dressings and bandages should be changed, and surgical sites and wounds should be cleaned, all to prevent infection. Mistakes leading to infection could constitute negligence, and infections could be particularly costly and detrimental if not quickly addressed.
Anesthesia Errors
When an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist puts you under for a procedure, you should not feel the procedure, and you certainly should not wake up during the procedure. You should also be able to wake back up after the procedure.
Any mistakes leading to permanent numbness, coma, overdose, feeling during a procedure, or alertness during a procedure could cause severe consequences for patients that they can seek compensation for by filing medical malpractice lawsuits.
Failure to Inform Patients of Risks
Patients must give informed consent before undergoing any procedure. If a patient does not understand the risks of the procedure they are about to undergo and does not consent to face those specific risks, their consent could be invalid.
If the doctor or other medical professional does not have consent to perform a procedure, the procedure is no better than battery or assault. You can talk to our lawyers about what information you were provided before undergoing treatment for help understanding whether it was sufficient or not, especially if you experienced side effects you were not prepared for.
Medical Record Errors
When doctors and hospital workers mix up records or fail to record information on charts or medical records properly, mistakes can happen that put patients at serious risk.
Medication Mix-Ups
For example, nurses could administer medication to the wrong patients if there is a chart mix-up. They could even end up taking the wrong patient for a procedure or testing if they do not properly identify the correct patient through their chart.
Overdoses
Further, failing to chart medication or procedures could mean that the patient ends up taking double the dosage of a medication or undergoes the same testing or treatment twice. These kinds of mistakes are not necessarily dangerous in all cases, but they could at least lead to expensive double-billing and wasted time, as well as medical complications.
Consequences
Any of these mistakes can lead to serious physical and emotional consequences for the patient. When facing significant medical procedures or treatments, you are especially vulnerable. When you become the victim of medical malpractice during those procedures or treatments, it can lead to devastating results that our lawyers can help you seek justice for.
Statute of Limitations for Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Maryland
Patients only have a certain amount of time to file their malpractice lawsuit before it becomes invalid in a Maryland court of law. We can identify your filing deadline based on the date of discovery or act of injury and start preparing your case right away so you do not miss the statute of limitations.
Rule
To file a medical malpractice lawsuit in the state of Maryland, a patient has to file the earlier of five years from the date the malpractice or injury occurred or three years from the date the malpractice injury or error was discovered, according to Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art., § 5-109(a).
Exceptions and Considerations
Other time limitations and considerations may affect whether your medical malpractice claim is valid in Maryland. These extra limitations and details can be complex and based on a number of factors, which we can explain if applicable. A personal injury lawyer with experience in medical malpractice law will be able to help you determine whether it is too late to bring a malpractice case to court.
Who Can You Sue in a Medical Malpractice Suit in Maryland?
Victims of medical malpractice in Maryland can sue any healthcare professional who caused injury or death to a patient by failing to provide the care and skill that is expected – this can include doctors, nurses, hospitals, and more.
For example, nurses, technicians, anesthesiologists, aides or assistants, hospitals, physical therapists, surgeons, specialists, nursing homes, healthcare companies, and HMOs might share liability for medical malpractice in some capacity. Identifying all negligent parties will be important so that our attorneys can maximize victims’ recoveries.
Is Arbitration Mandatory Before Suing for Medical Malpractice in Maryland?
Before filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against a medical provider in Maryland, a formal process needs to be followed. Under the Maryland Health Care Malpractice Claims Statute, parties must participate in a mandatory arbitration process before victims may formally file lawsuits in court.
Dispute Resolution Office
This means that we will first submit a claim to the Maryland Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office with a certificate of merit (verifying the veracity of your claim) from a qualified medical expert.
This process verifies that the healthcare provider you plan to sue breached accepted healthcare standards and that this breach caused your injury, pain, and suffering. Our attorneys can guide you through every step of this process to protect your rights.
Arbitration Waivers
Fortunately for victims of medical malpractice in Maryland, parties can waive arbitration, according to § 3-2A-06A(a). Victims can also reject awards given during arbitration if they think they stand to get more compensation at a trial, and our lawyers can help you navigate these and other complex aspects of medical malpractice claims.
Getting a Certificate of Merit by a Qualified Medical Expert for Your Maryland Medical Malpractice Case
To substantiate your medical malpractice claim, an expert witness generally must testify that the act constituted malpractice. Under § 3-2A-02(c)(2)(ii), expert witnesses for a medical malpractice claim must have certain qualifications.
Requirements
These include having clinical experience in the medical subject of your malpractice claim, providing medical consultation related to that clinical experience, and teaching in the medical field in which the defendant specializes, in a related medical field, or in the field in which the defendant treated you as a patient within five years of the alleged malpractice.
Board Certification
In some cases, the expert witness must be board-certified in the medical area of relevance. Our attorneys can ensure your certificate of merit comes from a qualified medical expert and is sent within 90 days of submitting a claim to the Maryland Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office so your case can continue.
The Role of Informed Consent Forms in Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
One of the most difficult barriers to overcome in any medical malpractice case is that every patient accepts some degree of risk in receiving medical treatment. Although medical science continues to make incredible advancements, human error can never be eradicated. As a patient, you accept risk, but if a healthcare provider departs from the established standards of care while treating you, you can hold that medical professional accountable in a medical malpractice claim.
Informed Consent
Before medical procedures, a patient will typically be required to sign an informed consent document. This document is to state that the doctor or medical provider has discussed the risks of a given procedure, and the patient understands the risk associated.
Even if you signed one of these documents, it is still possible to sue a medical provider if they did not perform their duties in adherence to the acceptable standard of care for the procedure or if they pressured you into signing an informed consent document.
Negligence
Just because a medical procedure is not successful does not automatically make it eligible for a medical malpractice claim. Our attorneys will be able to help you determine the validity of your medical malpractice claim after reviewing the doctor’s actions, your subsequent complications, and any other evidence we can find.
What to Bring to Your Consultation with Our Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Maryland
Maryland medical malpractice cases are highly complex, and a good lawyer will want to know everything they can about your situation before deciding whether or not you have a winning case. To make sure your lawyer has the information they need to best advise you about your rights and options in a medical malpractice case, you can bring certain materials to your initial consultation.
A Summary of Your Medical History
When you go to your initial case evaluation with our lawyers, you do not have to have your complete medical record on hand. However, do be able to provide a summary of your health before the event and your condition since the event. We will also need a summary of the nature of the event itself and any treatments you have gone through to correct the situation. Also, be prepared to provide contact information for any medical professionals who are currently treating you or who have treated you since the event, and a list of prescription medications you are currently taking.
After taking on your case, our lawyers can help obtain hard-to-get medical records and notes from liable doctors and hospitals and ensure you get the appropriate treatment from other qualified medical professionals to address your injuries. Monitoring your physical recovery from medical malpractice is just as important, and our attorneys can prioritize this during your case.
All Medical Bills Related to the Event
When consulting with your lawyers, explain the financial consequences you have experienced from medical malpractice. This includes bills you have paid yourself and ones covered by your insurance company. This information can give us a good idea of your initial damages from a doctor’s negligence, though we will also factor in other losses, like lost wages, if you cannot work while physically recovering.
Any Correspondence Regarding the Event
Keep any correspondence between you and the liable hospital or your insurance company regarding the visit to the doctor or your injuries. This will help the lawyer determine how the insurance company is willing to handle the claim moving forward, like how correspondence with the liable hospital might reveal that it has accepted fault for your injuries in some capacity.
Other Potential Items of Evidence
You can also bring other potential items of evidence to help our lawyers evaluate your case. Do you have emails from a doctor or hospital? X-rays or medical reports that support your claim of injury? Photographs or videos that show the patient before, during and after the injury occurred are also critical.
Does Insurance Cover Medical Malpractice Claims?
Doctors typically have malpractice insurance. This means that they are not paying out of pocket to cover your damages; their insurance pays for their damages.
Your health insurance typically does not cover malpractice damages, but it may pay for new procedures or second opinions in the meantime while you build your case. Then, you can seek compensation for those additional bills when you win.
Can Malpractice Take Away a Doctor’s License?
Sometimes a doctor’s care is so dangerous or unacceptable that it might threaten their medical license. You can report dangerous care to the state licensing board if you are concerned.
Hospitals are also generally involved in malpractice claims, so they see what their doctors did and might be able to institute their own investigations and reports to licensing boards.
Is a Complication Always Grounds for a Medical Malpractice Claim?
No. Complications are sometimes expected, and even cases where the surgery went horribly wrong or did not work at all might not be malpractice.
There are limitations on what doctors and medical science can do, and doctors are only responsible for bad outcomes if they actually made mistakes. However, many times doctors say that there were mere complications when they actually committed errors. So have a medical malpractice lawyer investigate for you.
Can You Prove Malpractice Without Complications
Yes! Complications imply that the procedure went poorly or was not successful. Sometimes the procedure goes well, but the doctor performed the wrong procedure entirely. That could still be malpractice.
This is common in misdiagnosis cases, where you might receive treatments you do not need, and the underlying condition just keeps getting worse. Even though you might have consented to those procedures, you only did so because you believed your doctor when they said they would help – but the doctor was wrong.
What if the Doctor Says Everything Went Well?
Sometimes pain, discomfort, or reduced movement after an operation is normal, and sometimes it means they are lying to cover up mistakes. If the doctor affirmatively tells you that your condition is normal and that pain will go away, but they actually did commit mistakes, this could qualify as fraudulent concealment.
This might extend your filing deadline if the doctor’s statements prevented you from getting a second opinion or filing a lawsuit sooner.
Consulting with a Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Your consultation with our medical malpractice attorneys is your opportunity to get to know our firm, decide if you feel comfortable moving forward, and get an honest evaluation of any damages you may be entitled to as a result of your medical malpractice case.
Do not hesitate to ask questions or contact us even if you are unsure if you have a cause of action. Even when making a mistake or being negligent, doctors might act with confidence, leaving patients to assume they acted appropriately, even if they did not.
In these situations, it often benefits victims to approach our lawyers and have them investigate their cases further, as pinpointing a doctor or hospital’s liability for your damages could help you recover them.
Call Our Maryland Medical Malpractice Attorneys for Help with Your Case
For a free assessment of your case from our medical malpractice attorneys, call Rice Law at (410) 694-7291.