Maryland enacted a self referral law in 1993 to help decrease the costs of health insurance and medical care after concerns that Maryland doctors would order unnecessary testing if they had a financial stake in ordering the testing. I think this was a problem with few doctors, but as we…
A lot of very smart people are looking at ways to decrease the incidence of medical malpractice in this country. The early returns are not good, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study found that efforts to decrease medical malpractice in our…
A hospital leaves a 4-inch-long piece of plastic tubing inside an infant boy at birth. The child may have a permanent injury. What should the verdict be? How much is that medical malpractice lawsuit worth? If a potential client called our law firm and asked that question, I would say…
Let’s take a sampling of people who answer yes to this question: “Are medical malpractice insurance rates for doctors in Maryland too high?” The follow-up question that 95% (source: my best guess) of them cannot answer is: “Exactly how much does malpractice insurance cost?” To say the least, it varies…
There has been a settlement in the St. Joseph’s stent case. No, not those cases. This settlement was for the not so unrelated lawsuit by the federal government for the kickbacks given for referrals from Mid-Atlantic Cardiovascular Associates. St. Joseph was accused of making payments to Mid-Atlantic for referrals for…
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals provided yet another ruling about the nuances of malpractice law in Maryland, specifically the certificate of merit and other technical requirements necessary for initiating a medical malpractice lawsuit. In Maryland, the procedures for filing and litigating medical malpractice actions are established by the Maryland…
The $11.5 million medical malpractice verdict won against a Miami orthopedist this spring, by former Dolphins receiver O.J. McDuffie, has been overturned. At trial, McDuffie testified that the doctor never told him that he had completely ruptured the ligaments in his toe, as evidenced by MRIs performed in subsequent weeks.…
A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine underscores what patients have known for a long time: good research to find the right doctor does not necessarily yield the right doctor. The study found only a thin correlation between how the doctor performed according to the patient and…
The Baltimore Sun published a well-written rant about the deterioration of the doctor-patient relationship. The editorial stems from the well-publicized shooting at Johns Hopkins by a man distraught about his mother’s medical treatment. The writer paints an awful picture of a war between doctors and patients that is beginning to…
A Salisbury cardiologist has been indicted in federal court on charges stemming from the doctor’s giving patients unnecessary stents. Many patients have already filed civil lawsuits in Salisbury claiming medical malpractice for the unnecessary stents. The debacle at St. Joe’s has caused a fresh look into every doctor who has…