As one of Maryland’s top law firms, Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. has been working on behalf of the wrongfully injured for decades. Through our extensive experience litigating a wide variety of medical malpractice claims, our attorneys discovered that certain forms of medical negligence occur more frequently than others.

The five most common medical malpractice lawsuits in Maryland

Recently, our attorneys reviewed a study conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons at the Ireland Medical School that examined medical malpractice cases in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Canada to find out the which types of medical negligence were most common. The results were similar to the common types of medical malpractice cases that our legal staff often litigates in Maryland:

  1. There are main three categories of misdiagnosis that may warrant a medical malpractice lawsuit. These are false positives (a condition is mistakenly detected), false negatives (a person actually has a condition but testing indicates he or she does not) and equivocal results. Equivocal results refer to interpretations that lack definitive diagnoses.
  2. Medication Error. Medication errors can be the fault of doctors, nurses, technicians, and pharmacists. These errors include prescribing the wrong medication, the wrong dose of the correct medication and failure to adequately assess a patient’s history to prevent any possible allergic reactions.
  3. Surgical Errors. When a doctor, surgeon, or member of the support staff makes a grave error on the operating table, a patient’s condition may worsen instead of improve. Examples of errors include operating on the wrong body part, failure to adhere to generally accepted procedure and protocol, and failure to properly administer anesthesia.
  4. Failure To Divulge Risk (Lack of Informed Consent). Failure to divulge risk refers to the hospitals and doctors who are negligent in properly explaining any and all risk factors associated with surgery, medication or treatment procedures. Without a full explanation of risk, a patient lacks informed consent—which could qualify as medical malpractice in the state of Maryland.
  5. Failure To Diagnose. Failure to diagnose is a form of misdiagnosis. Not diagnosing a condition properly or in a timely fashion—also known as delayed diagnosis—could mean the patient’s condition is worsening without adequate treatment. In cases of heart disease, cancer, or other serious illness, failing to diagnose could be fatal.

Speak with an experienced Baltimore medical malpractice attorney today

Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. has spent years successfully litigating on the behalf of the residents of Baltimore and the surrounding areas. Our team is well versed in the intricacies of medical malpractice law and has decades of experience dealing with insurance providers to collect a fair compensation for victims. Our main office is located in Baltimore and we serve all of Maryland and Washington, D.C. If you believe you have been the victim of medical malpractice, contact our firm today at 410-234-1000