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Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Filed in May 2019
- Warren v. CEP America (filed May 1, 2019) – After a 60-year-old woman had a laparoscopic surgery she suffered a bowel perforation that went undetected and caused her to develop multiple organ failure and sepsis resulting in her death.
- (Kelly v. MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital (filed May 1, 2019) – This case involves a wrongful death claim that was filed in Prince George’s County on behalf of a woman who died from sepsis that developed after an abscess was not properly treated.
- Escobar v. Adventist Healthcare (filed May 2, 2019) – This medical malpractice case was filed in Montgomery County after doctors failed to deliver a baby by C-section despite there being clear signs of fetal distress. The baby now suffers from very serious and irreversible brain damage and will be unable to live a normal, dependent life.
- Singletary v. Anonymous Dentist (filed May 2, 2019) – A woman needs her wisdom teeth pulled, but unbeknownst to her an inexperienced and unqualified dentist who is not an oral surgeon pulls them. In doing so, he did not take imaging of the teeth’s roots and could not see they were within her right inferior alveolar nerve. When he pulled it, the nerve severed and she now has permanent nerve damage.
- Jackson v. Western Maryland Health System (filed May 3, 2019) – A woman is diagnosed with herpes simplex virus and later becomes pregnant. The doctors fail to take her herpes diagnosis into account during her prenatal care and the baby is born. The baby develops blister-like lesions and is diagnosed untimely with herpes simplex virus. Unfortunately, the baby develops herpes simplex encephalitis and suffers a stroke that causes her permanent brain damage.
- Nefferdorf v. Peninsula Regional Medical Center (filed May 6, 2019) – A gastroenterologist for nearly a year ignores pathological findings that his patient is suffering from cancer. Rather, he misdiagnoses him despite clear evidence of cancer and causes him to undergo unnecessary surgery. When he is finally diagnosed with cancer, his only option is chemotherapy and he is not expected to survive.
- Harrison v. Anonymous Dentist (filed May 6, 2019) – A dentist sees a patient for almost three years and performs multiple dental implants. He does not take the necessary diagnostic test. As a result, he does not know she is suffering from gum disease and that her jaw is not suitable for implants. Additionally, simple cavities went unrepaired. She now needs extensive restorative surgery to repair his mistakes.
- Gibson v. Doctor’s Community Hospital (filed May 6, 2019) – A Prince George’s County resident has gallstones and needs surgery to remove them. During his postoperative care, he suffers worsening abdominal pain and his blood pressure is very low. Despite his symptoms, he is not examined and no tests are performed. He dies the next day from internal bleeding.
- Mahr v. Anne Arundel Medical Center (filed May 8, 2019) – A young woman presents to the emergency room with a sore throat and cannot swallow. Her condition worsens but no lab tests are ordered. As a result, her sepsis goes undiagnosed until it is too late and she sadly passes away.
- Moore v. MedStar Montgomery General Hospital (filed May 9, 2019) – A morbidly obese woman has surgery to fix a hernia she is suffering from. When the surgery is almost finished, the doctor doesn’t check the surgical incision and area. Instead, he stitches her up and sends her home. As a result, she has undetected internal bleeding and eventually has to go back to the hospital to have it fixed. Had the doctor simply looked, her pain and discomfort could have been avoided.
- Wise v. Anne Arundel Physician Group (filed May 9, 2019) – A 63-year-old overweight Anne Arundel County resident with a family history of diabetes sees a primary care physician for basic screening services aimed at early detection of chronic illnesses. Despite his age, weight, and family history, no basic laboratory tests are performed. Had they, his diabetes would have been detected. The diagnosis was not made until his sugars were out of control and he was suffering from a serious infection in his hand. This infection required multiple surgeries and he is now left with permanent damage in his hand.
- Breads v. Civista Medical Center (filed May 9, 2019) – A woman goes to the emergency room due to lower abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. She has a CT scan and is told she has severe gastritis and is discharged. Six days later she returns to the ER with the same complaints and now low blood pressure. Another CT scan is taken. It turns out the first one was misinterpreted. She has a small bowel obstruction with sepsis. She undergoes surgery her the bowel but she quickly spirals and passes away.
- Ray v. University of Maryland Medical System (filed May 10, 2019) – A woman has hip surgery done and while recovering she was asked by a nurse to move from her bed to a chair. The nurse helps her sit up, but tells her she has to use crutches to get herself to the chair. In doing so she falls and seriously injures herself. Her injuries require her to undergo further surgery, incur medical and out-of-pocket expenses, and lost time and wages.
- Canlas v. Anonymous Dentist (filed May 10, 2019) – A dentist is performing a dental procedure on the plaintiff and drills too deep injuring the inferior alveolar nerve. He does not refer him to an oral surgeon for proper analysis until 8 months later. He now suffers from permanent numbness, tingling, and discomfort.
- Vaught v. Harford Memorial Hospital (filed May 9, 2019) – A woman with severe depression is admitted for mental health treatment. Despite severe anxiety and verbal expressions of her wanting to kill herself no 1:1 care is provided. Rather, nurses check on her every 15 minutes. These checks are not performed timely and eventually, she is found unresponsive. She took her own life by stuffing paper towels down her airway.
- Ellis v. Bon Secours Hospital (filed May 10, 2019) – A prison inmate is stabbed in the chest and transferred to the emergency room. X-rays are taken and the doctor misreads the X-ray and claims the plaintiff is not suffering from any serious injury and instead is faking it. He is sent back to his prison cell where he becomes unconscious and falls. He sustains back and head injuries and currently suffers from physical disabilities. The prison receives a call soon after that the x-ray was misread and he has a significant tension pneumothorax.
- Bosnick v. University of Maryland Medical System (filed May 13, 2019) – A woman is suffering from a necrotizing soft tissue infection that is continuously misdiagnosed by doctors. She goes into septic shock and despite the doctors best efforts, she passes away.
- Richardson v. Future Care Health (filed on May 13, 2019) – A family is no longer able to care for a loved one and places her in a nursing care facility. The facility negligently cares for her and she develops massive bedsores causing her to undergo otherwise unnecessary medical treatments and she ultimately dies.
- Claro v. South River Health & Rehab Center (filed May 13, 2019) – While in a nursing facility, an elderly woman is negligently cared for and suffers massive bedsores causing her to undergo otherwise unnecessary medical treatments, suffer from extreme pain and suffering, and incur further medical expenses.
- Meyer v. Genesis Healthcare (filed May 13, 2019) – An elderly man suffering from diabetes is admitted into a nursing facility. While there, he suffers a fall that causes him to go into cardiac arrest and undergo multiple medical treatments. He suffers several more falls all of which accelerate the deterioration of his health and hasten his death.
- Johnson v. Wexford Health Sources (filed May 13, 2019) – A man is suffering from cancer and then finds himself incarcerated. The prison is aware of the seriousness of his condition and the prison’s medical personnel send him to an oncologist for treatment while he is in prison. The oncologist makes multiple recommendations for his treatment as well as changes in medication and despite his best efforts, the prison fails to follow any of them. Shortly after he is paroled he passes away.
- Knott v. Wexford Health Sources (filed May 13, 2019) – A prison inmate has increasing numbness and pain in his left leg. He has multiple visits with the prison’s medical staff but they fail to investigate it and send him back to his cell with ibuprofen. It’s not until he complains of coldness in his left leg that he is sent to a hospital for further evaluation. It turns out he has arterial thrombosis and loses his leg. Had his pulse and temperature been recorded, the amputation could have likely been avoided.
- Mothersbaugh v. Anonymous Doctor (filed May 15, 2019) – A woman is undergoing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy when the surgeon places surgical clips in the wrong spot. As a result, he accidentally transects her common bile duct. Due to this mistake, she has to undergo multiple other procedures causing her pain and suffering as well as further medical expenses.
- White v. Living Health Integrative Medicine (filed May 15, 2019) – A health care company is offering a “pre-diabetes reversal program” that requires participants to have their blood regularly drawn. The technician taking the plaintiff’s blood is having trouble finding a vein in her arms so she attempts to draw it from her hand between her thumb and forefinger. As soon as the needle is inserted, the plaintiff experiences excruciating pain. She is diagnosed with a permanent nerve injury called radial nerve crush injury.
- Wilcox v. Bridgepark Operations (filed May 16, 2019) – An elderly woman who requires total care with activities of daily living is admitted to a nursing facility. Given her immobility she was a high risk for developing pressure ulcers, however, usual interventions such as repositioning her are not employed. As a result, she develops numerous pressure ulcers including a sacral ulcer. She is still currently suffering from the sacral ulcer that causes her immense pain and significantly limits her mobility.
- Rankin v. Braddock Heights Health Care (filed May 16, 2019) – An overweight and an immobile elderly woman is admitted into a long-term care nursing facility because her family can no longer manage her needs. Upon her intake assessment, she is determined to be a high fall risk and requires two or more persons for physical assistance. Typically bed rails, as well as other precautions, are taken for a patient like this. One nurse is bathing her in her bed when she falls off and breaks her hip. No rails or other precautions were taken and the staff was not informed she required two persons for physical assistance.
- Johnson v. Holy Cross Health (filed May 16, 2019) – A Verizon employee undergoes surgery that requires intubation, however, before the procedure no pre-operative assessment of her airway is completed. When the doctors go to intubate her, they are unable to and fail on five different attempts. The surgery is canceled as a result. After she is hardly able to talk and an ENT specialist finds her vocal box is dislocated and permanently damaged. Because of this injury, she still has difficulty speaking and was forced to change positions at her job due to no longer being able to speak with customers on the phone.
- Kelly v. University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake (filed May 16, 2019) – A patient presents to the hospital with a fever and cough, chills, chest pain, and shortness of breath. A chest x-ray is misinterpreted as showing a pulmonary embolism, despite pneumonia having been apparent. A CT scan is later performed that also shows pneumonia but is again not diagnosed. His condition continues to worsen and he dies just 3 days after his admission. An autopsy reveals his cause of death was necrotizing pneumonia.
- Glover v. Calvert Health Medical Center (filed May 15, 2019) – A woman with wound drainage from a previous hip replacement must undergo a surgical procedure to fix it. While positioning her in preparation for the surgery her legs were improperly placed in a way that caused pressure to her peroneal nerve in her knee. As a result, she suffers permanent damage to her peroneal nerve causing her severe physical pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses, and physical debilitation and disability.
- Melhorn v. The Johns Hopkins Hospital (filed May 16, 2019) – A glaucoma patient already blind in on eye has surgery on his good eye. After surgery, he loses vision entirely. He calls his surgeon who tells him to come in for an emergency procedure. The surgeon directs the emergency room staff to direct him right to the glaucoma surgical center and bypass regular intake procedures. Despite his orders, the emergency room attempts to treat him and the surgery is delayed. Once the surgery is scheduled, the surgeon further delays the procedure so she could finish seeing her office patients. By the time the surgery is performed, any chance of preserving his vision is gone and he is now legally blind.
- Boardman v. Anne Arundel Medical Center (filed May 17, 2019) – A woman has a surgical procedure done to remove a mass from her ovary. After, she experiences unbearable pain and goes to the emergency room. Despite her having just had surgery, the doctors fail to obtain a general surgeon consult until two days later. Then, it is discovered that her colon was perforated during the procedure and she now has sepsis.
- Sean v. Adventist Healthcare (filed May 17, 2019) – A 79-year-old man goes to the emergency room with signs of sepsis and a history of nausea and vomiting. Additionally, he is showing signs of a urinary tract infection and a small bowel obstruction. These symptoms should have prompted further investigation via a blood test and imaging, however, the doctor only orders continued monitoring. Given his history of nausea and current vomiting, he should have been placed in a position to prevent aspiration. Unfortunately, he suffers massive aspiration and cardiopulmonary arrest that causes his death.
- Watson v. Chesapeake Urology Associates (filed May 17, 2019) – A 58-year-old man is having a robotic prostatectomy done when his femoral nerve is accidentally injured. The damage is permanent, and he now suffers from pain, weakness, loss of function, and loss of sensation.
- Lobe v. National Rehabilitation Hospital (filed May 20, 2019) – A woman has a prosthetic hip replacement surgery that goes exceptionally well. During physical therapy after the procedure, the therapist performs a maneuver on her applying too much force and too quickly. She is now in excruciating pain and x-rays show a fracture and a protrusion at the attachment site of the hip. She can no longer walk unassisted and her injuries are predicted to be permanent.
- Miscavich v. University of Maryland Physicians (filed May 21, 2019) – A high-risk surgical candidate undergoes outpatient spinal surgery. More conservative interventions likely should have been employed before resorting to surgery and given his health status it should not have been outpatient. He is sent home and experiences weakness in his limbs and falls. He shows signs of spinal cord compression but is misdiagnosed. Finally, an MRI is completed that confirms compression and surgery is needed to repair it. He now suffers from neurological defects and injury.
- Sword v. Endoscopy Center at Robinwood (filed May 22, 2019) – A woman has a routine colonoscopy performed. Before and during the procedure, she has a severe reaction in her arm causing swelling where the IV was administered. The doctors pull the IV out but provide no responsive treatment for her swelling. She now has permanent damage to the tissue and nerves in that arm.
- Leder v. Future Care Cherrywood (filed May 22, 2019) – An elderly man who was assessed as having a high fall risk and dependent for most activities of daily living is in a rehab facility. He is not stabilized with staff assistance and falls face forward suffering a cervical fracture among other injuries.
- Williams v. Parkway Anesthesiologists (filed May 22, 2019) – A 46-year-old man is put under anesthesia for a surgical procedure. As he was awakening after the procedure, he begins to suffer from emergence delirium and in response he was given Propofol, which has a calming effect. He starts showing signs of hypoxemia and should have been re-intubated, however, the doctors are too late. He was inadequately oxygenated and ventilated for too long which caused him to suffer severe acidosis and cardiac arrest leading to his death.
- Young v. University of Maryland Medical System (filed May 23, 2019) – A 19-year-old young man is in a vehicular accident requiring him to be intubated. He suffered a brain injury and received a tracheostomy but was showing signs of improvement and was thought to have an excellent chance at rehabilitation. Unfortunately, the staff fails to keep a close eye on his vitals and he codes. He was not resuscitated until 24 minutes after the code was belatedly called. As a result, he suffered a permanent hypoxic-ischemic injury.
- Pelham v. Manor Care Rossville (filed May 23, 2019) – A 90-year-old nursing home resident with a history of falling, muscle weakness, atrophy, and many other problems is not provided with physical assistive help. She is in a wheelchair wheeling herself down the hallway and slides out. The staff does not consider she could have a head injury. She begins vomiting and is unable to swallow or speak. No CAT scan is done of her head. She suffers a subdural hematoma that is not timely diagnosed and she passes away.
- Trujillo v. Mercy Medical Center (filed May 28, 2019) – A woman has a hysterectomy done and the surgeon closes the wound with the wrong type of sutures. Without realizing this, she is sent home and for the next two and a half years she experiences pain in her abdomen. Eventually, a foreign object is found and surgically removed. The object is discovered to be the incorrect suture used during the hysterectomy over two years ago.
- Jacobs v. Johns Hopkins Hospital (filed May 29, 2019) – A woman has surgery and while in recovery her drainage was unusually high. Doctors informed her that she cannot be discharged until the drainage stops to prevent bacteria from draining into her bloodstream. A nurse comes in and empties the tubes and shortly after a doctor comes in and sees they are empty and discharges her thinking the drainage has stopped. She becomes very sick and is readmitted where she learns she is in septic shock.
- Brockway v. American Spine Center (filed May 29, 2019) – A woman is told she needs surgery for a herniated disc in her back that is causing her significant discomfort. She goes in for surgery, however, her pain does not subside after. Eventually, she decides to get a second opinion. The doctor performs a microdiscectomy and finds there is no scarring or evidence of entry where the first doctor claimed he performed surgery. It turns out that they billed her and her insurance company for the procedure but never actually conducted it.
- Masilek v. Westminster Healthcare (filed May 29, 2019) – An 82-year-old man was admitted to a rehab facility due to his need for physical therapy. He was a heavy and high fall risk patient, both of which the facility as aware of. Despite this, he was walking alone and fell and struck his head on the corner of a doorway. He suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage that over the following three weeks caused his death.
- Moffet v. Sinai Hospital Baltimore (filed May 30, 2019) – A woman has chronic liver disease but is misdiagnosed as having gallbladder stones. An unnecessary surgical procedure is performed on her to help with the misdiagnosed gallbladder stones/disease. She develops an infection from the procedure that turns to sepsis and she dies.
- Hodges v. The United States of America (filed May 30, 2019) – A 7-year old girl undergoes spinal surgery at a military hospital to correct her scoliosis. During the procedure, a neuro-monitoring team picks up on absent signals in her lower extremities that can sometimes represent an evolving spinal cord injury. Surgery is usually stopped in this event and the signals are investigated, but the surgeons continued. They also performed a wake-up test where she could not move her lower extremities. Nevertheless, they did not stop the surgery. She suffered a spinal cord injury and is now paralyzed in her legs.
- Aller v. Howard County General Hospital (filed May 30, 2019) – A 72-year-old woman with a history of heart problems is out eating at a restaurant when she becomes sick and has to be taken to the emergency department. She was dizzy, diaphoretic, and short of breath. An electrocardiogram showed abnormalities in her heart, specifically a severe arrhythmia. The doctor decided she needed a pacemaker, but despite her history and current condition, he scheduled it three days later as an outpatient. After she was discharged and home, she collapsed and died. Had she simply been provided at the very least a temporary pacemaker she would have likely survived.
- Gnospelius v. Anonymous Doctor (filed May 30, 2019) – A dentist informs a patient she needs a surgical procedure to extract a tooth without providing her with the risks of the procedure or any alternative she may have. During the surgery, he makes mistakes that permanently damage her jaw and inferior alveolar nerve. The dentist fails to take postoperative tests, and as a result, he is not even aware of the damage he has done. He makes no remediation or specialist referral plan. She now suffers from unnecessary pain and discomfort and has osteonecrosis of the bone.
- Pettiford v. Anne Arundel Eye Center (filed May 30, 2019) – A man has glaucoma, however, his eye doctor fails to employ the proper treatment methods and fails to appreciate the severity of his glaucoma. When it becomes out of control, he finally refers him to a glaucoma specialist. He was able to save his vision, but the man is now left with tunnel vision and compromised central vision in his right eye.
- Hartsfield v. Doctor’s Community Hospital (filed May 30, 2019) – A woman has a tube inserted into her abdomen known as a PEG tube to help her with difficulties eating orally. The tube dislodges and moves into her abdomen. A new tube is inserted and in the weeks after she becomes sick. A CT scan had been taken that showed a foreign body in her abdomen but it was not investigated. It turns out that part of the tube that was initially removed remained inside of her body and caused a high-grade small bowel obstruction. Additionally, she developed pneumonia. Despite the doctors’ efforts to remove the remaining parts of the tube inside her and treat her, she passed away.
- Udeh v. Eye Care and Surgery (filed May 30, 2019) – A 48-year-old man has been seeing an eye doctor for treatment of severe cataracts. He saw this doctor for a long time, however, the doctor failed to detect in addition to his cataracts, he also was suffering from a detached retina. This is not discovered until later on when he sees another doctor. Unfortunately, he loses vision in one eye due to the delayed diagnosis.
- Chesney v. Reston Anesthesia Associates (filed May 31, 2019) – A woman is having hip surgery, however, the anesthesia is not properly administered. She cannot feel anything but she is conscious and alert the entire time and can hear everything. The doctors fail to realize this. She now suffers from post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and severe physical and mental anguish.
- Thiess v. Brightfield (filed May 31, 2019) – A woman is in a rehab facility after hip surgery and develops a stage III sacral pressure ulcer with necrotic tissue. The staff was aware she was at high risk for developing ulcers. After they discover it, it continues to increase in size and they decide to discharge her for home rehab. It becomes so bad she goes to the emergency department where she learns it has developed into a tunneling wound. It takes nearly a year to heal.
- Kimmel v. Harbor Hospital (filed May 31, 2019) – A 33-year-old woman has pneumonia that is not diagnosed until her symptoms become very bad. She also is now septic. While in the hospital, breathing becomes increasingly difficult. A doctor decides to intubate her without an anesthesiologist or anesthesia. She becomes severely hypoxic and goes into PEA cardiac arrest. It takes 26 minutes to regain circulation. Due to the prolonged hypoxia and anoxia she suffered, she had to have all four extremities amputated.
