Medical malpractice cases are often complex because they involve an injured person who is seeking financial compensation from a health care provider who allegedly acted negligently and caused the person’s injuries or harm. Investigating what happened, how, and why can take a great deal of time and state and federal laws may affect the case. The institution or hospital’s insurance legal department will also become involved in the lawsuit.

What Necessitates Medical Malpractice in Maryland?

There may have been times when you have had a negative experience with a medical professional. It could be from a standard checkup or with the administration of a hospital. But just because you had a bad experience doesn’t mean that you have a valid medical malpractice case.

Medical negligence can happen in a number of ways. Valid cases usually involve a trusted medical professional acting in a way that causes harm to their patient. Negligence can lead to situations like surgical errors, for instance, which is when a surgeon performs an operation on the wrong area, on the wrong patient, or leaves medical tools and sponges inside the surgical site.

Car accidents can happen in the blink of an eye—but so much can change in those moments. Severe injuries that can rack up costly medical bills often put auto accident survivors under duress. When it’s time to pay the bills, people may not know how to go through the process. Are they responsible for the costs? What about the person who caused the accident? And when will this matter finally be behind them?

Questions of how to afford the aftermath of the collision is often at the forefront of the injured person’s mind. Let’s look in to how using health insurance is beneficial:

With over 25,000 car accidents occurring in Maryland each year, it’s no surprise that thousands of individuals suffer from related accident injuries. While the injuries sustained in a car accident are often varied, there are certain injuries that are more common than others. Soft tissue injuries, like whiplash, fall into that common category.

Because of the multitude of symptoms that come with whiplash and the way it presents itself, understanding the condition can be overwhelming. If you’ve sustained a whiplash injury, you probably have a lot of questions. Keep reading to find out what whiplash is and why it happens, how it’s treated, and what you can expect in regard to recovery.

If you have been injured in a car accident, your auto insurance coverage is there to protect you and help you back on your feet. There are many different types of policies and coverages that may apply to your case and exact circumstances, but one type of coverage that may come into play is known as PIP coverage, or personal injury protection coverage.

Here’s what you need to know about PIP coverage and how it may apply to your insurance claim:

PIP Coverage and No-Fault Insurance

PIP coverage is commonly referred to as “no-fault insurance,” and will cover your expenses when you’re in a car accident that was caused by someone else. This includes accidents where you were a passenger in someone else’s car or if you’re riding a bike or walking and a car hits you.

Claims against Maryland EMTs and paramedics for improper medical care are extraordinarily difficult due to a law known as the “Fire and Rescue Act” that providers emergency medical responders limited immunity from claims for medical negligence. In order to obtain recovery, the patient must present evidence that the first responders were guilty of “gross negligence.” Our courts have defined gross negligence as a conduct that represents a “wonton and reckless disregard for human life.” This is the same standard required in negligent homicide cases brought against criminal defendants who lack the intent to kill but whose conduct is so reckless as to expose them to liability for homicide should their conduct cause someone’s death.

Alan J. Belsky and Thomas X. Glancy, Jr. of the firm have now prevailed twice in such a case and are pleased to report the details of their hard-fought victories in the case of Estate of Butler v. Stracke.

Their first victory came in the form of a jury verdict against Baltimore City Fire Department EMTs Joseph Stracke and Paramedic Stephanie Cisneros against whom the jury awarded $3.7 million in March 2017. That verdict was overturned by Baltimore City Trial Judge Althea Handy who deemed the evidence of gross negligence insufficient despite the jury’s conclusion that the evidence was sufficient.

Their second victory came on October 1, 2018 when the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reversed the trial judge’s decision and ordered that the jury’s verdict be reinstated. In so ruling, the appeals court found “substantial evidence of gross negligence. The court’s ruling is summarized below:

On March 2, 2011, Kerry Butler Jr. (Mr. Butler), a 28-year-old man, suffered a heart attack after waking up. As instructed, his wife, Crystal Butler (Ms. Butler), called 911 to report the event and seek emergency medical attention. When the medics arrived, Ms. Butler claimed they showed up without a medic bag or stretcher. They did not ask questions about Mr. Butler’s symptoms or medical history, and Butler was made to walk to the ambulance. The medics’ report contradicted the wife’s report.

Per the 911 call, the medics were aware they were being dispatched to respond to chest pain; however, they did not follow proper protocol and concluded Mr. Butler was stable in the ambulance. Mr. Butler was taken to Harbor Hospital, where he later suffered a heart attack and passed away. As a result, Mr. Butler’s estate filed a suit against the City and the medics involved, alleging gross negligence (i.e. acting with wanton and reckless disregard for others) due to their emergency response.

After you’re involved in a car crash, there are many responsibilities you’ll need to take care of. You need to inform your insurance company of the accident, take care of your injuries, and start filing your accident claim if you choose to take legal action. You may be wondering if hiring a lawyer is your best chance of recovering damages. Here is some good information to know about when you should consider hiring a lawyer:

A police report can play a major role in how your insurance company views your car accident claim. While police officers are not dispatched for every accident, they are sent when someone has been injured, when the accident is blocking traffic, when any of the drivers are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or if the parties are fighting about what happened.

When the police officer arrives, they will talk with the involved parties, investigate and assess the accident scene, take photographs, talk to possible witnesses, and generate their report. The reports contain a variety of information; however, it’s important to understand that no two reports are the same. Every police department is likely to have their own form and their own way of generating the reports.

If you’ve been in an accident in Maryland, it’s important to understand how the information on the police accident report can affect your settlement offer. Let’s take a closer look at police accident reports in our state, so you have an idea what to expect in the event you’ve been in an accident.

After an accident, the drivers involved are supposed to exchange contact and insurance policy information so they can inform their companies and work on getting their claim and compensation. But what happens if the other party doesn’t have car insurance?

While everyone is supposed to drive with insurance, there are many people who don’t. If you’re in an accident with someone who is uninsured or underinsured, your car accident claim may become more difficult than you first expected. Drivers have coverage for instances like this, but the insurance they get from their company usually depends on the uninsured or underinsured driver. Maryland has a new insurance policy to further help drivers in accidents with drivers who don’t have enough or any insurance at all.

Falls make for great slapstick moments in movies, but they work much differently in real life. Slip-and-fall accidents often result in severe injuries for victims. From broken bones to head trauma, recovery from these accidents can be time-consuming and financially draining. However, most victims in Maryland can achieve compensation for their injuries if their fall occurred on another person’s property.

One of the most common causes of slip-and-fall accidents comes from slippery or otherwise ill-maintained floors. However, the simple existence of a spill, wax or crack does not necessarily mean that a property owner is liable for another person’s injuries. Instead, courts will look at whether the owner took steps to adequately warn others of potential dangers. For instance, was there a sign for a spill or did the owner rope off an area of floor that was recently treated with wax?

People go through life thinking that if they had been a few seconds earlier or a few seconds later, such-and-such would not have happened.

So it is with car crashes and texting. Maryland law prohibits drivers from using hand-held devices while operating a vehicle, yet texting while driving continues to cause roadway disasters. Looking away from the road for a few seconds can literally be life or death.