Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Parents saw life seeping out of their toddler's body during five hours of waiting in a hospital's emergency room and begged for help, alleges a lawsuit. Medical care came too late," the suit says. The girl lost parts of her four limbs from a bacterial infection.

The lawsuit filed in Superior Court charges a hospital and various emergency room workers with medical malpractice and negligence in delaying treatment for a toddler, who later was flown to Children's Hospital for lifesaving care. Streptococcus A had invaded her blood and organs; as a result she suffered amputations of both feet, her left hand and part of her right hand. She is in intensive rehabilitation therapy. "There is nothing we can do to bring back her amputated hands and feet," said the family's lawyer. "However, we hope that her lawsuit will convince emergency rooms to do a better job treating our seriously ill children and make health care in our city safer for all of us."

The parents took their daughter to the emergency room with a persistent fever, skin discoloration and weakness. As they waited five hours, the girl grew visibly sicker, says the lawsuit. The parents repeatedly asked and begged defendants to treat their daughter. Defendants chose not to do so," until the father forced his way into the medical department and demanded help, the suit says. The hospital "chose to negligently staff, operate and supervise the emergency room," resulting in disaster for the little girl the suit concludes.

"A hospital is never allowed to needlessly endanger patients," the attorney said. Doctors at Children's Hospital said the toddler's sickness may have been the result of a quirk of genetics. They said they are uncertain whether a quicker response would have saved her limbs. Hospital president and CEO said in a statement: "At our Hospital, patient care and safety is our priority. We were sorry to hear about the eventual outcome for the child and our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. We are unable to comment on matters of pending litigation."

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The School Board has settled a lawsuit stemming from a January 2009 school bus crash on a Parkway. According to Circuit Court records, the board reached a settlement with the mother of a then-16-year-old High School student who was on the bus at the time of the accident. The terms would not be discussed due to confidentiality matters.

Filed in December 2009,the complaint accused the bus driver of failure to maintain a proper lookout, failure to keep his vehicle under proper control and failure to keep a safe distance. She sought $100,000 from the bus driver and the School Board. The driver - who no longer works for the school division, according to court records - was later dropped as a defendant.

The attorney said at the time that medical bills related to the student's back and neck injuries totaled about $10,000. The case had been scheduled for a jury trial this week. A document filed in court earlier this month said that the School Board "intends to admit liability at trial." The "only remaining issue in this matter will be the amount of damages involved," which "would stem solely from injuries, if any, actually suffered by the minor."

As an attorney concentrating in injuries, I am committed to provide efficient and timely response to your needs. If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of somebody's negligence call my office at 1-800-320-0080 to make an appointment at one of my conveniently located offices in Rockville or Baltimore.