Medical malpractice verdicts are at historical new lows, according to Public Citizen. Their new report tracks malpractice verdicts from National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). The NPDB began tracking medical malpractice payments in 1990. The number of malpractice payments made on behalf of doctors in 2010 was the lowest on record.…
Baltimore Washington Medical Center must pay a fine after giving a patient an improper dose of radiation last year. The Glen Burnie hospital was fined by the Maryland Department of Environment which, surprisingly, enforces radiation management regulations. BWMC recently reached the $14,000 settlement agreement with the state for the improper…
Last week, Rod Gaston culminated a long fight for our clients by obtaining a $2.5 million verdict in a wrongful death medical malpractice case in Montgomery County. I’m honestly more proud of this letter from the client (which I’m publishing with permission), than the verdict: Dear Rod, It has been…
A rare medical malpractice trial where the issue was on damages: the hospital admitted fault and the jury awarded a modest – by medical malpractice trial standards where the injuries are usually catastrophic or the loss of a loved one – verdict of $250,000 which was affirmed on appeal in…
Medical malpractice is largely a zero-sum game. If it helps the defendant’s lawyer, it helps the plaintiff’s lawyer. We all pretend from time to time this is not so. But it is almost invariably true. The question of whether to name doctors in a hospital malpractice case is one of…
Under the default statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases in Maryland, malpractice victims have three years to file a lawsuit from the time of the malpractice or wrongful death. The discovery rule says, however, that subject to a five-year limit, the clock only begins when you know or have…
A paradox that is just dumb: active-duty military personnel cannot sue military doctors – and, more importantly, the military – for medical malpractice. Under the Feres Doctrine, a 1950 Supreme Court ruling that bars active-duty military personnel – and, improbably, their families – from suing the federal government for injuries…
The number of Pennsylvania malpractice lawsuits dropped for the sixth – please think about that for a second: sixth – consecutive year in 2010. The total number of malpractice lawsuits crashed from 2904 in 2002 to 1,491 last year. Of the malpractice cases that went to a jury last year…
I always like to point out that you don’t see lawyers trying to get lawyer specific dispensation to lower malpractice premiums for lawyers. I don’t like paying malpractice premiums but, unlike many doctors, I’m not suggesting special consideration. I think it is crazy doctors want a special exceptions – lawyers…
This is not a space to praise the virtues of malpractice insurance companies. But let’s give credit to Crico/RMF a malpractice insurance company which insures Harvard-affiliated hospitals. Crico/RMF, according to the Wall Street Journal, put on an emergency medicine leadership summit to identify the critical factors that cause missed or…