Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Penn Law Firm represents victims in medical malpractice lawsuits against negligent doctors, nurses, hospitals, nursing homes, and other licensed health care providers and facilities. Our Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers have extensive expertise and experience in the field of medical negligence cases. On this page, we will look at the basic law of medical malpractice in Maryland and the different types of medical malpractice lawsuits that are commonly filed.

We will also look medical malpractice settlements and their average payout value.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is generally defined as any act or omission by a doctor (or other healthcare provider) when treating a patient that falls below the accepted standards of practice in the medical community. Medical malpractice is basically professional negligence committed by a doctor, nurse or hospital.

To bring a successful medical malpractice case in Maryland, plaintiffs need to prove 2 things:

• The doctor was negligent, AND
• The doctor’s negligence directly caused physical injury to the plaintiff

Success Rate of Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Success in a medical malpractice lawsuit occurs when the plaintiff gets financial compensation, either in the form of a medical malpractice settlement, or a verdict. Based on this standard, the success rate for medical malpractice lawsuits is very high. Around 75% of all medical malpractice plaintiffs who file suit end up getting financial compensation either in a settlement or a verdict.

Approximately 70% of medical malpractice cases end in settlement. Around 15% of malpractice cases actually go to trial and the remaining 15% are dismissed either voluntarily or by the court. For those malpractice cases that do go to trial, doctors usually win about 75% of the time. Hospitals and nursing homes have a much lower success rate at trial.

Average Malpractice Settlement   

The average malpractice lawsuit settlement in the U.S. is between $310,000 and $405,000. The median medical malpractice settlement payout is slightly lower at $254,000. For malpractice plaintiffs that go to trial and win, the average jury award is $1.2 million.

These are national averages. The average amount of medical malpractice settlements in Maryland are slightly higher than the national averages. In Maryland, the average medical malpractice settlement payout is $425,000.

Failure to Diagnose

Doctors are supposed to use their skill and training, along with various diagnostic tools to accurately and timely diagnose a patient’s medical condition. This is one of the most basic aspects of medical care. Failing to diagnose a patient’s condition can result in delayed treatment that can be very damaging. This is particularly true with diseases such as cancer. A 1-year delay in diagnosing cancer can often make a huge difference as to the treatment options and prognosis.

Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis is the most common type of medical negligence. However, malpractice cases based on failure to diagnose can be the most difficult to win. Proving that the doctor was negligent in his diagnosis can be challenging and showing that the plaintiff was harmed by a delay in diagnosis is also hard.

Hospital Malpractice

Hospitals are considered healthcare providers so they can be directly sued for medical malpractice just like doctors, nurses and other professionals. Hospitals tend to make better defendants in medical malpractice lawsuits for several reasons.

First, juries tend to be very sympathetic towards individual doctors or nurses when they are defendants in malpractice cases. That is one reason why doctors and nurses have such a high rate of success at trial. By contrast, juries are not very sympathetic towards hospitals so their success rate when they go to trial is much lower.

Second, hospitals are much more likely to try to settle medical malpractice lawsuits compared to individual doctors. Hospitals will often settle malpractice cases to protect their public image and avoid bad publicity. Hospitals are also self-insured and they have deep pockets to pay for settlements.

Surgical Errors

Surgical error is another common type of medical malpractice. Surgical negligence occurs when the surgeon or surgery team makes a mistake during a surgical procedure that causes significant harm or death to the patient. The most common type of surgical error is when the surgeon accidentally cuts too deep and damages nearby organs.

Medication Errors

Medication errors involve negligent prescribing or administering of drugs resulting in harm to the patient. Malpractice cases involving medication errors can be filed against doctors, pharmacists and other healthcare providers involved in prescribing or administering drugs. Medication error malpractice cases typically come in 3 different varieties:

Wrong Medication: the patient receives the wrong drug from the pharmacy or from hospital staff and suffers harm as a result. Pharmacies fill prescriptions with the wrong medication way more often than you would think.

Dangerous Drug Combinations: Patients are sometimes injured when they end up taking a combination of drugs that causes a serious adverse reaction.

Wrong Dose: wrong dose medication errors usually occur in a hospital setting where the nursing staff administers too much or too little of a medication.

Nursing Home Negligence

Just like hospitals, nursing homes are licensed healthcare providers so they can be sued for medical malpractice. Nursing homes, assisted living homes, and other elder care facilities are notorious for neglecting elderly residents in a variety of ways. Nursing homes are chronically understaffed, and they routinely neglect the basic needs of their residents.