Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Filed in January 2019

1. Williams v. Wexford Health Services (filed December 31, 2018) - A prison inmate contracts Hepatitis C while incarcerated, however, no treatment was initially provided to him. As a result, he developed cirrhosis, among other health issues, and suffered seven internal bleeds while incarcerated. He was not provided treatment until he was found vomiting blood and due to their indifference, he has developed medical conditions that will require treatment for the remainder of his life.
2. Reeder v. Mercy Medical Center (filed December 31, 2018) - A woman undergoes an abdominal surgery and begins showing signs of sepsis soon after. An exploratory surgery is performed that reveals she has a bowel perforation. Despite efforts to repair it and multiple other surgical procedures, her condition continues to deteriorate. She additionally develops an abdominal abscess that grows to thirteen centimeters. She remains in the hospital until her passing.
3. Avery v. Holy Cross Health (filed January 2, 2019) - After having a total knee replacement, a patient experiences absent pulses, a foot drop, and extreme pain in his foot and calf. He is taken back to surgery where it is discovered that his right popliteal artery was injured such that the blood supply was cut off. He must undergo multiple procedures to repair the damage, however, his leg is now permanently damaged.
4. Warnell v. Johns Hopkins Hospital (filed January 2, 2019) - A ten-month-old baby has been losing weight and vomiting for two weeks. His parents taken him to the emergency department where he is diagnosed with an abdominal distention and operated on for a partial bowel resection and stricture repair. His condition quickly deteriorates after and he is showing signs of infection, but no further diagnosis is made. Sadly, he passes away and a post-mortem analysis shows he was positive for multiple bacterial infections, one being enterococcus faecalis, which is found in the GI tract.
5. Adu v. Holy Cross Health (filed January 2, 2019) - A pregnant woman who is both short and obese, both of which are known risks factors for fetal macrosomia, is ready to go into full term labor. Her doctors fail to appreciate these risk factors that place the baby at an increased risk for should dystocia and a C-section is never recommended to her. While in the delivery process, her doctor realizes shoulder dystocia is present, however, he uses an incorrect maneuver resulting in injury to the baby's brachial plexus. The child will now suffer permanent disability in her arm.
6. West v. South Baltimore County Medical Center (filed January 2, 2019) - An obese man with several cardiac risk factors presents to the emergency room after having prolonged shortness of breath and chest pain. His doctors fail to diagnose him and discharge him; however, he quickly returns. It turns out he has nearly a total occlusion of his right coronary artery that was missed during his first visit. He undergoes a cardiac catheterization to clear the blockage but suffers a significant stroke. He is sent to a long-term care facility and now has continuing debilitating deficits.
7. Farasy v. Cardiology Associates (filed January 3, 2019) - A man sees his doctor for numbness he was experiencing in his fingers. His doctor refers him to a cardiologist who notes he has a significant family history of premature atherosclerosis and orders a stress test, among others. Those tests are never performed, and he is found dead on a park trail. An autopsy reveals he died of severe atherosclerosis.
8. Braxton v. Centers for Advanced Orthopedics (filed January 3, 2019) - A patient is having knee surgery that requires the placement of a tourniquet around his leg. The surgeon uses too much pressure and causes a left femoral nerve injury that is diagnosed as permanent. This case was recently dismissed for lack of prosecution.
9. Planta v. Kaiser Foundation (filed January 3, 2019) - A doctor misdiagnoses a patient's breast cancer as benign. As a result, her cancer grows and spreads untreated for over a year. When it is finally diagnosed, she has three masses in her liver. She was scheduled to start chemotherapy but develops complications of her cancer and becomes anemic with metabolic acidosis, leading to her untimely death.
10. Dickey v. Windsor Mill Surgery Center (filed January 4, 2019) - In preparation for surgery, anesthesia is administered to a patient. Shortly after, he suffers a laryngospasm. The doctors are unable to restore his airway quickly enough and he suffers a hypoxic brain injury and encephalopathy. He survives his injuries but must undergo extensive treatment and now has permanent disabilities.
11. Stein v. Union Memorial Hospital (filed January 7, 2019) - A doctor diagnoses a patient with aortic stenosis but fails to diagnose him with carotid stenosis. He undergoes an aortic valve replacement which he recovers well from and returns to his normal life. Several months later he suffers a significant stroke that is determined to have been from his undiagnosed carotid stenosis. He undergoes a delayed carotid endarterectomy but is now confined to a wheelchair and nursing home.
12. Waller v. Woman Kind OB/GYN Associates (filed January 7, 2019) - A woman's prior history of preterm births is not considered by her OB. As a result, no progesterone supplementation is provided for her and she ends up giving birth to a preterm baby. The baby suffers developmental delays and autism.
13. Katsha v. Foot and Ankle Specialists of the Mid-Atlantic (filed January 7, 2019) - A patient in a doctor's office waiting room trips and falls over a walker that is laying out on the floor causing her to sustain injuries.
14. Richardson v. Anonymous Dentist (filed January 8, 2019) - While working on a patient's mouth, a dentist loses control of the electronic drill handpiece cutting the patient's lip. The dentist does not suture her lip, but rather allows her to leave the office. She must go to a local emergency department that day to have her lip sutured to the stop the bleeding. She is now left with a permanent scar and requires further dental treatment.
15. Rose v. Medstar Southern Maryland Hospital (filed January 9, 2019) - An elderly patient is prescribed narcotics in too short intervals and too high doses that cause her to suffer an overdose resulting in hypoxic respiratory failure. She required intubation and extensive rehab and has still not fully recovered.
16. Robinson v. Anonymous Doctor (filed January 9, 2019) - A prison inmate with a long history of depression, mental health disorders, and suicide attempts is supposed to be in a double cell for purposes of suicide prevention, however, his doctor fails to inform the prison of this. He is placed in a single cell and found dead after hanging himself.
17. Hamlet v. Calvert Memorial Hospital (filed January 10, 2019) - A pregnant woman is going into labor and signs of fetal distress arise from fetal heart tracings, however, her doctors fail to perform a C-section. As a result, she continues through labor and delivers the baby vaginally. Due to the ongoing fetal distress throughout the delivery, the baby suffers hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and a brain injury.
18. Uzoho v. Johns Hopkins Medicine (filed January 10, 2019) - A pregnant mother is diagnosed with funneling and the need for a cerclage, however, one is never provided. She becomes septic and goes into septic shock and the baby is born as a stillborn. She now is in renal failure and needs a kidney transplant.
19. Heron v. Medstar Health (filed January 11, 2019) - A woman has her left ovary removed due to extreme pain she was experiencing as a result of it being cystic. Some time after, she experiences the same pain and rushes to the emergency room where she learns the surgeon failed to remove her entire ovary. Since then, she has had to undergo multiple procedures to correct the surgeons work.
20. Autry v. Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center (filed January 11, 2019) - While in a nursing home, a patient suffers several documented falls up until her last one where she is found on the floor with significant trauma to her head. She suffers an acute left temporal subarachnoid hemorrhage and passes away one day later.
21. Morgan v. Anonymous Doctor (filed January 11, 2019) - While under the prolonged care of a podiatrist a patient is treated for a diabetic ulcer. The ulcer does not improve, but rather worsens and he is eventually diagnosed with sepsis and osteomyelitis. He must undergo a prolonged course of IV antibiotics as well as multiple surgical procedures to treat his foot and ankle.
22. Sykes v. Northwest Hospital Center (filed January 11, 2019) - After having knee surgery, doctors fail to diagnose a patient with a rapidly developing infection despite her showing obvious signs and symptoms. She is eventually diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. To date, she is unable to walk and has undergone 30 operations to remove the infection in her leg. This case was recently dismissed due to her lawyer failing to file a certificate of qualified expert and memorandum of support.
23. Nichols v. Genesis Healthcare (filed January 14, 2019) - A nursing home patient is found unresponsive, but staff wait three hours until calling for an ambulance. In the emergency room, he is noted to be in shock and suffering multi-organ failure. Despite best efforts and intubation, he passes away from hypoxic respiratory failure, cardiogenic shock, and pneumonia.
24. Leahy v. University of Maryland Medical Center (filed January 14, 2019) - A man sustains lung damage from inhaling toxic fumes and is treated by a specialist who diagnoses him with interstitial lung disease. Three years later, he learns that the doctor failed to additionally diagnose him with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which should have been apparent when he first saw the doctor. The only treatment available to him now is a lung transplant. This case was recently dismissed for lack of prosecution.
25. Rodriguez v. Johns Hopkins Hospital (filed January 14, 2019) - A 32-year-old man undergoes spinal surgery for a resection of a tumor and suffers a cervical cord injury. He is now a quadriplegic and is no longer capable of living on his own.
26. King v. Fox Chase Rehab and Nursing Center (filed January 15, 2019) - A nursing home patient with limited mobility develops an unstageable pressure ulcer that becomes infected and contributes to his overall decline and death.
27. Proctor v. Healthrise Lotus Care (filed January 15, 2019) - A surgeon is performing a laparoscopic vaginal hysterectomy on a patient and perforates her bowel without knowing it. She becomes very ill and a CT scan confirms a perforation as well as free air and fluid in her abdomen and chest and a large abdominal abscess. She requires surgery to fix the perforation and still suffers from respiratory problems that have caused her multiple hospitalizations since then.
28. Huincao v. Shady Grove Adventist Hospital (filed January 15, 2019) - A patient with a history of choking episodes is put on a puree diet, however, she obtains a chicken tender that she eats and chokes on. Despite the staff performing the Heimlich maneuver she becomes unresponsive and dies.
29. Yoho v. Anonymous Dentist (filed January 16, 2019) - A dentist improperly places implants in a patient's mouth putting him at risk for developing periodontal disease which would preclude him from having implants in the future. The work needed to correct this issue will cost between 46-80 thousand dollars. This case was recently dismissed for lack of prosecution.
30. Brown v. Anonymous Dentist (filed January 17, 2019) - A prison inmate is forced to have healthy teeth extracted in order to get a plate rather than providing him with a partial plate. The teeth are not fully pulled but rather broken and the plate he receives also breaks. He is not provided with a new one for over a year and has to eat without having any teeth. When he is finally given a new plate, that too breaks and he is currently without anything.
31. Edney v. Trivergent Health Alliance (filed January 17, 2019) - Hospital staff fail to consult with a patient's pharmacist who has Klinefelter syndrome, cerebral palsy, PAID syndrome, and other conditions. As a result, they accidentally prescribe him 10 times the dose of a prescription he is on. He experiences swelling within his airway and requires 100 percent oxygen and is transferred to critical care. After the error is discovered and fixed, his condition improves.
32. Stokes v. St. Agnes Healthcare (filed January 17, 2019) - A patient with rheumatoid arthritis is given the wrong prescribed dose of methotrexate. He is supposed to be taking 8 mg daily but is told instead to take 8 pills daily, each being 2.5 mg. Due to drug toxicity, he develops acute renal failure that ultimately leads to sepsis causing his death.
33. Stevenson v. Marlboro Leasing (filed January 18, 2019) - A woman undergoes ankle surgery and has a cast put on thereafter. She suffers complete dehiscence of the wound, along with further extension, and develops a necrotic infection. She undergoes three surgeries involving debridement of the wound and removal of hardware but is ultimately diagnosed with osteomyelitis. She never recovers and passes away. The cause of her death was determined to be due to osteomyelitis.
34. Harmon v. Capital Women's Care (filed January 22, 2019) - A woman goes in for a gynecologic consult where an employee attempts to place her on an examination table after she had told her she was unable to get on it. In doing so, she falls and suffers a shoulder fracture, lumbar spine compression fracture, and atrial fibrillation. Due to her injuries, she requires hospitalization, inpatient rehab treatment, and outpatient therapy.
35. Batts v. Manor Care Services (filed January 23, 2019) - A nursing home patient has a Foley catheter inserted incorrectly by not being placed to the appropriate distance. When the balloon is inserted prematurely, it traumatizes his urethra causing him permanent injury.
36. Starnes v. Calvert Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center (filed January 23, 2019) - While performing a total knee replacement, a surgeon injures the patient's popliteal artery without knowing it before completing the surgery. Postoperatively, it is discovered she is suffering from a complete thrombosis of the popliteal artery. Despite treatment, she has suffered permanent injuries from this mistake.
37. Rolls v. Johns Hopkins Hospital (filed January 23, 2019) - A doctor fails to inform a patient of the material risk associated with a rotational atherectomy procedure he deems as emergent. Complications arise and surgery is unsuccessful in clearing the patient's blockage. A heart surgeon is prepared to perform an emergency bypass surgery but after a closer examination realizes the patient's blockage is nowhere near as bad as his doctor told him. Non-surgical conservative treatment is recommended. As a result, the patient was exposed to a number of uninformed and unnecessary risks.
38. Koberstein v. United States of America (filed January 23, 2019) - While performing a surgery, a surgeon accidentally drives a high-speed drill through a patient's sellar bone causing an arterial bleed. Efforts are taken to stop the bleeding and saver her life, however, she is ultimately diagnosed as having suffered a hemorrhagic stroke causing her to be hemiplegic on her left side. She now has permanent physical, cognitive, and neurological injuries. This case was recently voluntarily dismissed.
39. Bennett v. Anonymous Dentist (filed January 24, 2019) - While extracting a patient's wisdom teeth, a dentist injures their inferior alveolar nerve. As a result, the patient now suffers numbness and tingling in his chin and lower lip that is likely permanent.
40. Kitt v. Anonymous Dentist (filed January 24, 2019) - A patient suffers damage to her inferior alveolar nerve while getting dental implants. She now suffers numbness and tingling that is not expected to subside.
41. Leimbach v. University of Maryland (filed January 24, 2019) - A woman is diagnosed with progressive avascular necrosis/osteonecrosis and must undergo knee surgery. As part of the procedure, a calcium/bone substitute injection is used, similar to cement. After the surgery, she has a limited range of motion in her knee as well as pain and learns from a second opinion that surgeon injected cement into the joint within her knee. She has to undergo multiple procedures to have the cement removed and to this date has not fully recovered.
42. Mensah v. Washington Adventist Hospital (filed January 25, 2019) - A woman undergoes a tracheostomy and her doctors fail to correctly asses the tracheostomy site resulting in the development of a tracheoinnominate artery fistula. She has five episodes of bleeding and requires a transfusion, but a diagnosis is not made quickly enough. Surgeons attempt to repair the fistula, but she suffers a stroke and passes away soon after.
43. Tatum v. Anonymous Doctor (filed January 29, 2019) - While pregnant, a woman sees her OB/GYN due to rectal bleeding she had been experiencing for two weeks. The doctor ruled out hemorrhoids, among other things, but failed to refer her to a gastroenterologist to rule out cancer. Roughly a year later, she begins experiencing other symptoms and is diagnosed with colon cancer. As a result of the delayed diagnosis, her prognosis is ominous.
44. Booker v. Anonymous Doctor (filed January 29, 2019) - A woman is sick with continuous nausea and vomiting as well as constipation for six years. Her primary care physician fails to make a diagnosis but rather only gives her prescriptions. After nearly six years, during an emergency room visit she learns she needs surgery to fix her condition. This case was recently dismissed for lack of prosecution.
45. Perry v. St. Joseph Medical Center (filed January 29, 2019) - During a total knee replacement, the surgeon incorrectly places a tourniquet on the patient's thigh causing a permanent injury to her femoral nerve that has left her with a permanent disability.
46. Napoleon v. Oakview Rehab and Nursing Center (filed January 30, 2019) - While at a long-term care facility, a patient has a feeding tube inserted that is not positioned properly causing her to aspirate. She is found in respiratory distress and taken to the hospital where she dies soon after.
47. Falcone v. Anonymous Dentist (filed January 21, 2019) - While treating a patient, a dentist improperly used Dycol, a sealant, rather than using a composite of amalgam for dental restoration thus allowing bacteria in her mouth to enter her teeth and infect them. She now requires extensive dental work in attempt to save her teeth, however, she will likely have some extracted.
48. Lagarelli v. Johns Hopkins Hospital (filed January 31, 2019) - A patient with a pancreatic cyst undergoes a surgical resection, however, the surgeons fail to consider conditions he has that could give rise to serious surgical complications. The procedure is complicated by intestinal adhesions, a portal vein injury, and the failure to resect the entire cyst. He has to undergo further procedures and is ultimately diagnosed with invasive colloid carcinoma and undergoes treatment for his cancer.

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