Common Types of Medical Malpractice Cases in Maryland: Examples and Legal Considerations
October 9, 2023
Medical malpractice can result in costly consequences for you or a loved one. You have the legal right to file a lawsuit that could result in significant financial compensation. However, you must overcome several challenges before receiving a settlement check or a jury award. Here are some common examples of medical malpractice that may cause you to file a lawsuit.
Birth Injuries
There is a reason why obstetricians pay the highest medical malpractice premiums. They commonly make errors that have extremely high human and financial costs. The quality of their medical care matters and even a momentary lapse or mistake can cause a newborn to suffer health effects for the rest of their life.
The doctor may fail to detect or promptly treat a risk factor that could threaten the child or mother, such as gestational diabetes. They could delay a crucial decision to perform a C-section surgery when the baby is distressed.
Failure to Diagnose
The doctor may not promptly diagnose your medical condition, costing you valuable treatment time that could have greatly affected your long-term prognosis. They may not have performed the right tests, or they could have missed something that should have been obvious. Not every delay in diagnosing a condition would be medical malpractice. It takes an average doctor some time to learn what is going on as they rule out certain diagnoses.
Botched Medical Procedures
Doctors must exercise reasonable care when performing surgical procedures. Not every surgery is successful. Some bad results were inevitable and were not the doctor’s fault. However, you should investigate when the surgery was unsuccessful. The doctor may have made an avoidable mistake that made the procedure more difficult or reduced the chances of success. In some cases, they could have made a far more shocking and egregious error that no doctor should ever make. You should learn whether the doctor was why your medical results were not what you hoped.
Medication Errors
Each year, many people are injured by medication errors. The doctor or the pharmacist may be responsible for the mistake, and you may be able to sue either. Here are some examples of serious medication errors that can cause injuries:
- Prescribing the wrong medication
- Prescribing the wrong dosage
- Incorrect timing
- Failing to check if two medications conflict with each other
- Failing to check if the patient has an allergy
Legal Issues in Medical Malpractice Cases
There are some cases when it is readily apparent that the medical professional made an error nobody should ever make. For example, no surgeon would ever operate on the wrong body part or leave surgical equipment inside a patient. Doctors would check to see what medications the patient is taking before prescribing another one to check for any conflicts.
However, there are other cases where the doctor may argue that their error did not cause your injuries. They may claim that you would have suffered medical consequences anyway, no matter what they did or did not do. You would be up against the requirement to demonstrate causation in your medical malpractice case.
You would also face similar challenges in proving that the doctor acted unreasonably under the circumstances. There are some cases where it is seemingly beyond question that the doctor made a mistake. Those are the claims that the defendant has some urgency to settle. Still, you may face the challenge of proving that the doctor acted unreasonably under the circumstances.
Our Baltimore Medical Malpractice Lawyer at LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton Can Assist You With Your Claim
Suing a doctor is never easy, but a Baltimore medical malpractice lawyer at LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton can be in your corner. Call us at 800-547-4LAW (4529) or complete our online form to schedule your free initial consultation.
We have offices in Baltimore, Glen Burnie, Lanham, and Owings Mills, allowing us to represent clients in Maryland, including those in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Harford County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Maryland’s Western Counties, Prince George’s County, Queen Anne’s County, Southern Maryland, and the Eastern Shore, as well as the communities of Catonsville, Essex, Halethorpe, Middle River, Rosedale, Gwynn Oak, Brooklandville, Dundalk, Pikesville, Nottingham, Windsor Mill, Lutherville, Timonium, Sparrows Point, Ridgewood, and Elkridge.