Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The first individual lawsuit filed by a hepatitis C infected patient at a Medical Center was filed in district court naming the hospital and anestesiologist. The patient underwent surgery and believes an operating rooom technician, an intravenous drug user with hep-c, left a dirty needle filled with saline in place of the narcotic intended for her.The patient alleges the hospital and anestesiologist failed to follow internal polices and controlled substance laws requiring that potent drugs be either locked up or closely monitored.
Her lawyer stated we have filed this suit on behalf of the patient because she is unable to undergo medical treatment for her chronic hepatitis C and has already developed liver damage. A class action suit against the hospital has also been filed and at least 18 other patients have been found to have the same genetic strand of hep-c as the operating room technician. The technician was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical malpractice please call me for an initial free consultation at 800 320-0080 or for an appointmnet in Rockville or Baltimore offices.

St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson is facing lawsuits and two federal investigations related to its cardiac care division has just informed 169 more heart patients received costly and dangerous treatments that were not needed.
These additional cases bring the total to 538 patients notified by St. Joseph's that coronary stent implants they received at the hospital may have been unnecessary. Officials at the Hospital also said more questionable procedures may be uncovered while an internal review continues.
The St. Joseph's announcement is the latest debacle in an issue that has spawned a class action lawsuit, required the removal of a prominent physician and interested the U.S. Senate. It could also result in a multi-million dollar fine for the hospital per court records.
The hospital began investigating its heart catheterization procedures after several warnings last year from federal investigators and quickly focused on stents implanted by a leading cardiologist and senior physician, Dr. Mark Midei.
Stents, which are mesh tubes placed into damaged arteries to open them up are generally implanted in patients with at least a 70% blockage. But hospital officials in their review discovered stents implanted by Dr. Midei had insufficient blockage. And that the amount of blockage was overstated in the medical reports.
"Leaders of (St. Joseph) felt it was their ethical responsibility to notify these patients to allow them to determine if medical follow-up was appropriate." The hospital said in a statement. They reiterated that Midei (who is no longer at the hospital) is the only doctor under investigation.
In 2008 Midei was recruited to lead the cardiac catheterization department at St. Josephs from his former employer MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates of suburban Baltimore.
Last month the U.S. Senate Finance Committee requested St. Joseph to turn over all the records of its financial relationship with stent manufactures and how the $10,000 procedures were billed to federal and private insurers.
"In addition to putting the patients lives at risk unnecessary medical procedures amount to wasteful spending of precious federal health care dollars." Said the U.S. Senate in a letter to the hospital.
If you or a loved one is the victim of a medical mistake please call my office at 1 (800) 320-0080.

A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of two sons whose father killed their mother, alleging that the steroids and drugs prescribed to their father were a factor in the killing. The suit alleges that a family nurse practitioner at a local clinic, began prescribing medications to their father in April of 2007. In May, she increased the doses for the two powerful steroids that she previously prescribed without consulting the physician supervisor or any other medical doctor. In July, the nurse added a prescription for a psycho stimulant with similar risks associated to methamphetamine.

On December 20, 2007, their mother obtained a restraining order against their father. The next day, their father returned to the Clinic and was experiencing toxic side effects from the combination of his prescribed medications. On January 2, 2008, their mother signed a petition for temporary separation from her husband. On January 6, their father shot their mother 13 times in a church parking lot, in front of their two sons.

The father plead guilty to aggravated murder but stated that he would not have killed his wife if he had not been on the medications he was on. The lawsuit claims that the nurse was negligent in not consulting with a medical doctor in prescribing and increasing the dosages of the medications and for keeping the patient on the medications despite signs of toxicity. The lawsuit also names the supervising doctor and the clinic and seeks general, special and punitive damages.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice please call my office at 1 (800) 320-0080 for a free consultation.http://www.maryland-attorney.us/lawyer-attorney-1112627.html

A paralyzed man won $19.2 million in a negligence claim against a local Medical Center. The patient was admitted to the hospital after complaining of severe back pain. The hospital did not conduct an MRI or CAT scan until two weeks after he was admitted. The patient was subsequently diagnosed with a spinal abscess, an infection on his spinal cord, that quickly led to permanent paralysis. This injury could have been easily avoided had the hospital taken the proper diagnostic test to determine the cause of the injury. This Hospital's failure to take the necessary actions led to this Patient's paralysis.

The suit claimed that there was not a particular physician or specialist that was directing his care contrary to the established hospital standards. After the diagnosis, a neurosurgeon tried to reverse some of the damage but it was too late. The patient has been paralyzed from the chest down and has been living in a nursing facility for five years because he was unable to get around independently in his own home. This patient requires life time care and monitoring which led to a successful verdict.

If you or a relative or a loved one has been injured as a result of other people's negligence please contact me at my offices in Rockville or Baltimore to discuss your case free of charge at (800) 320-0080.

A Hospital is being sued by the parents of two children who were killed by their aunt. The suit claims that the psychiatric facility provided inadequate care to psychiatric patient who was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, prescribed psychotropic drugs and released after 6 days. The plaintiffs claim that they were never told that patient might pose a risk to herself or others and never informed any officials or the people who come into contact with the patient.

In December 2008, unbeknownst to the parents of the two minor children the psychiatric paptient arrived at the home of the children around 8pm to pick up the two children, a 5 year-old and a 4-year-old, to spend the night at her home. They state that she was behaving normally when she arrived and took the children, however, earlier in the evening a State Police Trooper had almost detained her for a psychiatric evaluation when they found her acting erratically on the median strip of a highway, punching a motorist who had stopped to help her. The psychiatric patient told the tropper that she was having a debate between "good and evil." She calmed down and was released. After she picked up the children, she crossed the median of a highway, stopped her car going in the wrong direction, undressed herself and the two children, ran into traffic and was hit by a car which killed all three.

Psychiatric patient cases causing injuries require an indepth analysis and investigation of facts surrounding an injury and that condition must have been known to the person having the duty to inform others and as the result of such failure to warn the patient caused injury to others. Thes are extremely fact sensitive cases and appropriate fact witnesses and experts muust be employed to prosecute such cases.

If you or a person you know of has been injured or traumatized as a result of such injuries you can contact me at my Baltimore or Rockville, Maryland offices for a free consultation at (800) 320-0080.

A City Council has agreed to pay $2.2 million to the family of a 14-year-old girl who was choked by playground equipment three years ago and suffered an irreversible brain injury and remains in a vegetative state. The victim was found unconscious hanging by the neck from a rope tied to a playground ride.

When a Police Department officer arrived, he concluded that the victim had no pulse and did not cut her down. He instructed first responders to not disturb her because it was a crime scene and he started to take pictures. It wasn't until six to eight minutes later that it was discovered that victim was still alive and she was treated. Her parents argued that the lack of oxygen during that time increased the severity of her brain injury. The City Council decided to settle due to the cost and uncertainty of litigation but did not admit any wrongdoing. Most of the award will go to a special needs trust set up for the victim's care, which is currently at a skilled nursing care facility.

The victim parents also received $7 million from the County Housing Authority who was in charge of maintaining the playground. the victim's doctors believe that she could live for another 16 years.

If you or a loved one has been injured due to negligence of another person or as a result of a defective condition call my offices at Rockville or Baltimore for a free initial consultation at 1-800-32-0080.

A Florida jury awarded a family 4.3 million dollars in a medical malpractice suit against two doctors for failing to properly diagnose their child shortly after birth. According to the allegations the doctors failed to properly perform the necessary tests to diagnose the newly born infant with enterovirus causing her to suffer from lifelong disabilities.

Shortly after the infant was born in 1994, large bruises began to appear and her skin turned yellow. Her liver showed signs of scarring and a blood clot formed in her brain. Her parents were advised to make funeral arrangements. The doctors ignored the symptoms that pointed to enterovirus, which is normally a mild virus that can become deadly in infants. The doctors failed to take blood and liver tests that would have identified the virus. Although the infant survived, the blood clot left her with a learning disability, she has severe vision problems and permanent cirrhosis of the liver.

If you or a loved one has been injured and is a victim of a medical malpractice contact me at my offices in Rockville, Md or Baltimore, Md for a free initial consultation at 1-800-320-0080.

The mother of 17-year-old female has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a church-run treatment center and three of its former employees after she died while being restrained. The suit alleges that the victim was held by staff members in a prone position which caused her death.

The county coroner ruled that the victim's death was a homicide, saying that the teen suffocated and choked on her own vomit while employees restrained her. The President of the treatment center, who runs the center, stated that the staff is taught to use a face-up method to restrain patients. The face-down restraint position was banned in Ohio in November and several states and has been prohibited by several other agencies who oversee treatment homes and centers.

If you or your loved one has suffered an injury because of lack of supervision or failure to provide adequate monitoring at public or private facilities please visit my website at www.ostadlaw.com or call my Baltimore or Rockville office at 1-800-320-0080 for a free initial consultation.