Maryland Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog

• Wrongful Death and Medical Malpractice Allegations Prohibit Cosmetic Surgery for Encino Physician (The Daily News Source). The problem with cosmetic surgery is that its profitability lures both those qualified and those not qualified for the job.
• Hospital board approves physician recruitment package (Marion County Record). Note that the doctor sought for this job will get paid more if he sees more than 19 patients a day.
• Malpractice News and Stories (Maryland Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog). Another roundup of stories which appears to be my new thing.

It is harder to write during the holidays. It is much easier to pass on the work of others.

• Texas Tort Reform Immunizes ER Docs Against Most Malpractice Claims (well respected malpractice lawyer in DC and Maryland on "willful and wanton" standard for ER doctors in Texas)
• Hospital Safety Still an Issue: Better Medical Care, Not Tort Reform, is the Answer (article by another Washington DC/Maryland malpractice attorney)
• Doctor sex misconduct cases monitored in secrecy
• Be prepared for potential liability when responding to hospital alerts
• Medical Fraud Investigation : Ex-consultant faces more time (incredible scam that is almost hard to believe)
• Medical Justice Forges Partnership with LocumTenens.com to Protect Physicians. I have written that I think Medical Justice is a bad idea as have others.
• Texas Reforms Undermine Patient’s Rights – Weaken Medical Malpractice Remedies. It is clear: malpractice lawyers do not like the Texas law.
• Mississippi Man Awarded $500,000 in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
• Top 20 Reasons Not to Bring a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in New York (a look at good and bad reasons to bring a malpractice claim)
  
• You’ve Just Won a Large Medical Malpractice Jury Verdict – What Happens Next?. Article underscores the sad reality for victims: getting a verdict in a malpractice case is often just the start of getting a recovery.
• Diagnostic Errors Often Caused by Systems, Shortcuts - Part 1 (Pittsburgh malpractice lawyer writing about bias and malpractice)

• Oregon high court overrules intermediate appellate court that reduced malpractice verdict for patient's comparative fault
• Criminal problems for former medical consultant accused of collaborating with local doctors and lawyers to fraudulently manipulate medical malpractice cases
• More competition for medical malpractice insurance?Capson Medical Malpractice Insurance is now available in 12 states.
• How to get a mistrial in a malpractice case that everyone can agree upon? When defendant/doctor starts treating one of the jurors.
• San Antonio amputee has 'great' malpractice case -- not in Texas
• Gubernatorial candidates debate medical malpractice lawsuits
• Malpractice Mediation Lacks Physician Participation
• Bill would raise medical malpractice awards in Virginia

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 hospitals has, at least as of 2007, failed and that the Institute of Medicine's goal of a 50% reduction during a 5-year period has not been met, to say the least.

Interestingly, the 10 North Carolina hospitals chosen in the study were picked in part because they were considered progressive in their handling of and addressing the root causes of medical malpractice. The authors, and we have no way of gauging this beyond taking their word for it, believe these results are indicative of malpractice rates in this country generally.

Does this mean that efforts to reduce malpractice don't work? The authors suggest the opposite, saying that focused efforts to reduce discrete harms, such as nosocomial infections and surgical complications, can significantly improve safety. I think it means that we have to do more of what we have been doing and do it better.

It is worth noting that the study does not speak to the last three years. It does seem that more and more people are looking at the problem and trying to find real solutions.

The Baltimore Sun wrote an article a few months back on hospital executive compensation that I did not see until today.

No breaking news there: these guys make a ton of money. But it is interesting snooping around looking at non-profit health care providers' salaries. Sometimes, hospitals will create a separate nonprofit for different services, such as the emergency room services. They are nonprofits so they have to name the salaries for what I think are their ten highest paid employees. I could give you a link to a few of these but it names names and gives salaries and that is a little too intrusive for me. But it is fair to summarize my research by saying these guys don't want to hold up their salaries when arguing that high malpractice premiums are putting them out of business.

I've made this point before and I'll make it again: I think doctors should get paid a ton of money, more than any other profession because I think the medical profession is, as a class, more important than any other. If I make a mistake, someone does not get the money and justice they deserve. Doctors screw up and someone dies. So feel free to make a fortune. Just don't plead poverty and claim you are going to quit your job and go work at McDonald's because you can't earn a living wage because of your malpractice premiums.

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 I have absolutely no idea. There are just too many details you would need to know. To start, does it mean the child may have an injury? Do you know? If you don't, what are the odds the injury is permanent? Another incredibly important question: was the child in pain and if so, for how long? What are the past and expected future medical bills? Why did this mistake happen? Who made it?

The first paragraph is a fact pattern of a case that was decided recently in Washington State. The jury awarded $257,000 in this malpractice lawsuit against the hospital.

I read this entire article. I still have no idea what the value of the case should be. What are the odds this child will suffer a permanent injury from this malpractice? How much pain was the child in and can it be linked to malpractice?

I'm always taken aback when a malpractice lawyer gives a 60 word summary and every lawyer in the room thinks they can tell you the value of the case. Valuing any personal injury lawsuit is hard and malpractice claims are even that much harder to value. Malpractice lawyers always blame the hospital or the doctor's insurance company for not just putting fair value on the case from the beginning before long protracted discovery begins. Often, this is fair. But,sometimes, malpractice lawyers on both sides of the "v" need discovery to figure out the value, if any, of the malpractice lawsuit.

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 wildly by specialty.

In Maryland malpractice lawsuits, the most common insurance company at risk is Medical Mutual of Maryland, a doctor owned insurance company. This chart provides the rates according to one source, which includes data on how the rates changed from 2008 to 2009:

My comments:

• It is unfortunate that the data blends together Baltimore City and Baltimore County and Prince George's County and Howard County (with others). I would like to see Baltimore City and Prince George's County standing alone. It would be interesting to see what the difference is.
• Rates offered by Medical Protective and ProAssurance - two other Maryland malpractice insurance carriers with less market share - are substantially higher. Assuming they are not writing higher policies or covering more doctors with a prior history of malpractice, the rates do not appear to even be competitive with Medical Mutual.
• OB/GYNs' pay, relatively speaking, a lot of money. But it is hard to find one who does not live in a McMansion. OBs' are paid very well (as they should be). If an OB/GYN has to save a little harder for a vacation house on the beach, it seems like a small price to pay to make sure those children who will be suffering with an injury for the rest of their lives, as the result of malpractice, will be compensated.