People rely on doctors for competent and effective medical care every day. When doctors fail to meet their responsibilities to their patients, disastrous consequences may occur. You may suffer undue injury or exacerbation of an existing condition. If this sounds like your situation, you may be wondering whether you can sue your doctor for compensation.
Victims of medical malpractice have the right to bring a lawsuit against their doctor in a Maryland court. Medical malpractice requires a showing that the doctor owed you a duty that they breached, ultimately causing the harms you have suffered. Depending on the nature of the malpractice, you may decide to sue the doctor, the hospital, or both. You can recover damages for additional medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. You don’t have forever to file your suit, so it is in your best interest to speak to a lawyer today.
At Rice, Murtha & Psoras, we pride ourselves on our ability to recover for our medical malpractice clients who have sustained injuries while at their most vulnerable. Our Maryland medical malpractice attorneys are standing by to assist you with your recovery. To schedule your initial consultation for free, call our offices at (410) 694-7291.
When Can You Sue a Doctor in Maryland?
If you received medical care that caused you injury or further worsened an existing condition, you may be wondering whether you can sue the doctor who was responsible for your ordeal. In Maryland, an injury victim can sue a doctor for medical malpractice if certain conditions exist.
In order to bring your medical malpractice lawsuit against a doctor, you must prove that your doctor breached the duty of care that they owed you. You must also show that the doctor’s actions (or inactions) were the cause of your injuries. If you sought care for a preexisting condition that the malpractice exacerbated, you still may recover for the additional consequences that the malpractice caused.
Suing a Doctor vs. Suing a Hospital
If you were the victim of medical malpractice, you will need to determine whether the responsible party was the doctor who treated you or the hospital where you received your treatment (or both).
While these may seem like the same, the law views them differently. This is because some doctors work as independent practitioners rather than hospital employees. They also may carry their own malpractice insurance.
You may determine that people other than doctors who work at hospitals, such as nurses, nurse practitioners, and administrative staff, are responsible for your injuries. Most people who work in these roles are employees of the hospital.
If the malpractice occurred while the responsible hospital employee was working in accordance with the responsibilities of their job, then the hospital should be liable. This is not necessarily the case for physicians who work in private practice, so it is important to note the difference. Your Baltimore medical malpractice attorney can help you parse the finer details so that your suit identifies the proper defendants.
Damages for Lawsuit Against a Doctor in Maryland
If you are deciding whether to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against a doctor in Maryland, you are probably wondering how much you might stand to gain if you are successful. Damages, or the financial compensation available to a successful plaintiff in Maryland, are difficult to calculate without all of the information on a particular case, particularly in medical malpractice cases. However, we can provide a summary of how calculations are made on damages generally.
Successful plaintiffs may recover damages under two different theories: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are calculated based on harms that can be directly calculated as financial losses stemming from the medical malpractice. For instance, any undue medical expenses you incurred as a result of the medical malpractice will be covered under damages. If the injuries created or exacerbated by the medical malpractice prevent you from working, you may collect compensation in line with your lost wages. There is no cap on economic damages for medical malpractice in Maryland.
Non-Economic Damages
You may also receive compensation for your pain and suffering resulting from the malpractice. While not based on specific figures, non-economic damages may be substantial in any medical malpractice case. Chronic pain, loss of enjoyment of life, and resulting psychological conditions such as depression and anxiety are all common in these cases and are all compensable in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Maryland law caps non-economic damages for medical malpractice at $845,000 for the year 2021. For a better estimate on what you stand to recover in non-economic damages, speak to your Harford County medical malpractice attorney today.
Statute of Limitations for Suing a Doctor in Maryland
Maryland law creates a time limit on how long a medical malpractice victim has to file their lawsuit, just like any other civil lawsuit. However, the medical malpractice statute of limitations is a little more complicated because injury victims may not discover the malpractice until well after it has occurred.
For this reason, under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code § 5-109, medical malpractice victims must file within five years of the date of the injury or three years of the discovery of the injury, whichever happens first. If you fail to meet the appropriate deadline, you will be barred from recovery.
If you are considering filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against a doctor in Maryland, you should be aware of how much time you have before the statute of limitations runs out on your claim.
Potential Lawsuit Against a Doctor in Maryland? Call Us Today
The Maryland medical malpractice lawyers at Rice, Murtha & Psoras can help you file your medical malpractice lawsuit against your doctor today. To hear more, schedule a free consultation by calling (410) 694-7291.