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When you or your loved one seek medical care and treatment, you trust your health and well-being to the doctors and nurses. You trust these professionals to act responsibly and knowledgeably to treat your condition.
Unfortunately, sometimes medical professionals fail to act in the most responsible ways, resulting in failure to diagnose, misdiagnoses, procedural or treatment errors, or other medical malpractice situations. These mistakes often have devastating consequences.
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Thousands of patients are victims of medical malpractice each year, and while most healthcare providers are not intentionally causing personal injury they still must be held responsible for their actions. In some medical malpractice situations, further injury may be relatively minor. But in the most severe cases, permanent disability or death can result from the negligence of medical providers.
It can be scary and overwhelming to start a medical malpractice lawsuit, but if you or your loved one have been the victim of medical negligence, you are entitled to compensation and should consult with a Baltimore medical malpractice attorney.
The Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers at Regan Zambri Long are ready to take on your case, pursuing the financial reparations you need to reach the fullest recovery possible after your malpractice incident. You can schedule a free consultation with a Baltimore personal injury lawyer experienced in medical malpractice claims online or by calling 202-960-4596.
The National Practitioner Data Bank reports that 96 medical malpractice payments have been made in Maryland in 2022, as of September 30, totaling more than $30 million for malpractice victims. In the same time frame, 268 adverse actions have been reported by medical malpractice patients in Maryland.
A Johns Hopkins study from 2016 revealed medical errors as a leading cause of death in the United States, with an estimate of more than 250,000 deaths per year. While not all medical malpractice cases result in the patient’s death, a medical error of omission or commission can have lasting impacts on the victim and their family.
Another recent study suggests that as many as 400,000 hospitalized patients experience some type of preventable injury each year. This does not include medical errors experienced during outpatient services.
Sometimes a medical mistake affects many people. In these kinds of medical malpractice lawsuits, many people suffered the same or similar harm from the malpractice defendants. Class action suits often deal with product liability, which for a malpractice situation could involve issues with prescribed medications or medical devices. These lawsuits are often against big companies or corporations, such as a hospital as an entity or a pharmaceutical company. A Baltimore medical malpractice attorney can review your case to determine whether your best outcome will come from a personal injury claim or by joining a class action claim if one exists.
For your situation to qualify as medical malpractice, you must be able to prove that the doctor or medical professional failed to provide the same type and quality of care that any other reasonable and trained healthcare professional would have provided in your situation. This is known as the medical standard of care. If you can prove that your practitioner was negligent with this standard, you most likely have a medical malpractice case.
Some of the most common medical malpractice cases include:
If your medical experience isn’t listed here, that does not mean that you don’t have a medical malpractice case. Malpractice is a broad field, and even the least bit of negligence can cause serious injury, catastrophic injuries, or even death. If you or a loved one believe that you experienced medical neglect, you should contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer from Regan Zambri Long for a free case evaluation.
Given the often serious nature of medical conditions and the ramifications of negligence, wrongful death is not an uncommon consequence in a medical malpractice claim.
Surviving family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Baltimore if a loved one dies due to the negligence of a medical professional or caregiver. The surviving family can claim compensation for medical bills, reasonable burial, and funeral expenses, loss of wages and benefits the deceased person would reasonably be expected to contribute, as well as pain and suffering, and loss of support, companionship, and wisdom or advice.
Maryland’s statute of limitations allows you to bring a medical malpractice claim within five years of the date of the injury or within three years after you discover or could reasonably have discovered the injury, whichever date comes first.
Maryland requires all medical malpractice claimants to file a certificate from a qualified medical expert swearing under oath that he or she has reviewed your claim and believes that the medical professional failed to uphold the medical standard of care and that the failure directly caused your injuries. This certificate must be filed within 90 days of filing your medical malpractice claim. Clearly, your practitioner won’t certify that he or she committed medical negligence, but the certificate shouldn’t deter you from pursuing a claim. The Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers at Regan Zambri Long have handled hundreds of malpractice claims in Baltimore, MD, and will have a qualified medical expert review your claim and provide the certificate.
Most medical malpractice claims are complex and time-consuming, so it is in your best interest to hire an experienced Baltimore malpractice attorney as soon as possible after you experience medical malpractice in Maryland. Your lawyer will shoulder the burden of the legal process so that you can focus on getting the quality medical treatment you need to recover from your injuries. Your lawyer will file your claim with the appropriate court, negotiate settlement offers with the liable doctor’s attorney and/or insurance company, and ultimately take your medical malpractice lawsuit to trial if the liable party is unwilling to offer fair compensation.
Any medical practitioner can be liable in a medical malpractice suit. This includes:
Maryland does not place a cap on economic damages that can be recovered in medical malpractice cases, but it does cap the non-economic damages allowed. As of 2022, that cap is $860,000. Per Maryland law, the cap increases by $15,000 each year, so if your injury occurs after 2022, you can add $15,000 to the limit for each year that has passed. If your injury occurred before 2022, you should subtract $15,000 for each year that passed since your injury date.
Economic damages are those that are generally quantifiable. They include past, present, and future medical expenses, past and future lost wages and decreased earning capacity, and the cost of modifications or accommodations required because of your injury.
Non-economic damages may be harder to place a dollar value on, but they can be just as challenging to face. They include loss of enjoyment, pain and suffering, and mental anguish such as fear or anxiety.
Maryland does rarely allow medical malpractice victims to be awarded punitive damages, but to be awarded this compensation it must be proved that the medical professional acted with actual malice and intent to do harm. In medical negligence cases, it is rare that the practitioner is acting with the intent to do harm to a patient.
The duration of your malpractice case will depend on the particulars of your situation. Factors can include the severity of your injuries, how common that kind of medical negligence is, and the willingness of the liable party or parties to accept responsibility and make reparations.
In general, you should expect to spend at least six months to a year working through your claim, though it may take longer—especially if your case proceeds to a trial.
Proving negligence requires establishing the medical standard of care and showing that the care you received fell short, causing additional injuries and medical expenses.
This process usually begins by establishing that a doctor-patient relationship existed, which can be accomplished using your medical records and appointment history. Next, you and your legal counsel must show the negligence that occurred, directly causing your further injury. You will also need to provide proof that further injury occurred. Further injury could be the progression of your condition due to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, adverse reactions to treatment or prescriptions that should not have been ordered, or other injuries you would not have sustained if you had received reasonable care.
The value of your medical malpractice case will depend on the facts of your case and the extent of injuries and damages you suffered because of medical negligence. Placing a definitive dollar amount on your case is impossible without a thorough review of your claim.
In 2019, the average value of a medical malpractice claim in Maryland was a little more than $328,000, according to a report compiled by Hometown Health University.
While not every claim will reach or exceed the average payout, medical mistakes can be costly. Your personal injury lawyer will assist you in calculating your current and future medical bills and other non-economic damages to come up with a fair compensation value.
When you or a loved one suffer due to the negligence of medical experts, you deserve financial compensation to help make up for your additional pain and suffering, as well as the added medical expenses.
At Regan Zambri Long, our law firm is committed to helping every client pursue justice for his or her personal injury claim, holding the liable party or parties responsible for the personal injuries they cause. We don’t shy away from holding any healthcare professionals accountable for the errors in the medical treatment they commit. When you accept medical treatment from a healthcare provider, you are trusting that he or she knows the proper medical procedures and treatments to prescribe.
Our Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers have recovered millions of dollars for injured patients and we can do the same for you. We recovered a $5.8 million verdict for the family of a young Maryland woman who died because her healthcare provider failed to diagnose and treat her cancer. We also recovered a $2.45 million settlement on behalf of a Maryland man who suffered severe injuries during a routine heart surgery. Our top-tier Baltimore malpractice attorneys are recognized by press and peers alike as some of the best in the field.
Our law firm understands that you or your loved one need time to recover from your medical malpractice injuries. Pursuing financial compensation, though important, may not be a burden you can take on. That’s why our attorneys shoulder the legal burden on your behalf and don’t charge any fees until we’ve made a recovery in your favor. It shouldn’t cost you to hold negligent healthcare professionals accountable.
When you entrust your case to Regan Zambri Long, you place your case in the most capable hands. Schedule your free case evaluation today online or by calling 202-960-4596.
