Medical Malpractice Attorneys Serving Baltimore, MD
At Cardaro and Peek, LLC, we have investigated and handled thousands of medical malpractice claims and cases in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and throughout Maryland. As many as 1 out of every 25 hospital patients is injured by a medical mistake, and 44,000 to 98,000 people die each year from medical errors, according to the Federal Agency for Health Care Research and Quality
Medical malpractice cases are civil negligence cases involving a physician or some other type of health care provider. Healthcare professionals must abide by a standard of care in treating patients, including doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, radiologists, pharmacists, and hospital staff. If a healthcare provider fails to follow the standard of care, then he or she is negligent. To prove a medical malpractice case, however, it must also be shown that damages or injuries resulted from the failure to follow the standard of care. This legal concept is known as a “proximate case” and is often confusing for non-lawyers.
We use the following example to explain these concepts to our clients. If a driver runs a stop sign, he or she is negligent, but there is no civil claim unless the driver hits someone and causes injury or damage. The negligence must proximately cause injury or damage for there to be a claim. If a healthcare provider fails to order a test or give medication at the correct time, they may very well be negligent, but there is no medical malpractice claim unless the negligence harms the patient. There are many situations where we investigate a potential medical malpractice claim and find that the healthcare providers failed to follow the standard of care but cannot establish damage or injury as a result.
At the initial meeting, we tell all of our clients that we are required to prove negligence and injuries proximately caused by that negligence to win.
In Maryland, as in most states, a formal procedure must be followed for each lawsuit filed against a healthcare provider. The claim must proceed through a mandatory arbitration process before filing it in Court. This process is often a formality, but it does require that every malpractice claim be filed with a Certificate of Qualified Expert and a Report. This means that the physician must review the case and “certify” that the patient’s doctor failed to comply with the standard of care. Once the case is filed in Court, it precedes much like all other civil cases.
A Misdiagnosis Can Cause Serious Injuries
According to a BMJ Quality & Safety study, approximately 12 million adults seeking outpatient medical care are misdiagnosed. This figure translates to one out of every 20 adult patients, and researchers have found that in about half of those cases, the misdiagnosis could result in severe harm. A misdiagnosis occurs when a medical professional incorrectly diagnoses a patient’s medical condition or injury. It can involve diagnosing a disease that is not present or failing to diagnose a disease that is present, as well as an unreasonable delay in making a diagnosis. A misdiagnosis may result from some of the following situations:
- Failing to order appropriate tests
- Failing to follow up appropriately on tests
- Incorrectly interpreting test results when the interpretation should be clear
- Failing to take the patient’s medical history into account
- Failing to recognize symptoms
Contact a Knowledgeable Misdiagnosis Lawyer in the Baltimore Area
If you have suffered harm due to a medical professional’s misdiagnosis, we can help. At the Law Offices of Cardaro & Peek, our attorneys understand the devastating toll such an error can take on a patient’s health. You can rest assured that we will work diligently to get you the compensation you need to move on with your life. We assist people in Pikesville, Catonsville, Towson, Woodlawn, Dundalk, Essex, Randallstown, Arbutus, Reisterstown, Laurel, Silver Springs, and other areas of Baltimore, Montgomery, and Anne Arundel Counties.
