Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog

March 22, 2019

Anesthesiologist Malpractice Claims in Maryland

Anesthesia malpractice claims in Maryland have declined. That is right. Something good is happening. Anesthesiologists have gotten better at delivering the appropriate amount of sedation.

Why have they gotten better? I would say malpractice lawsuits. Anesthesiologists were forced to improve because their malpractice premiums were through the roof. Today, they do not even rank in the top 10 specialties.

Still, there are too many mistakes that anesthesiologists make that cause patients injury and death.

March 19, 2019

Uber and Lyft Accident Claims

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Uber and Lyft are the new on-demand transportation (or “rideshare”) companies that have revolutionized the for-hire and taxi transportation business in the last few years. Users download the Uber or Lyft app to their mobile phone and setup an account with a credit card for payment. Once setup, users can request a ride pick-up from their phone to which nearby Uber or Lyft drivers in the area respond. The apps allow riders to track the driver and process payment electronically.

Lyft and Uber are relatively new companies but they have exploded in popularity over the last 5 years. My sister is in Kenya right now and she is traveling around by Uber. Lyft, Uber’s kid brother, is about to go public and make their founders and estimated $9.4 bazillion. Car accidents involving Lyft or Uber drivers are becoming more and more common and these cars flood our roads.

Claims Against Lyft or Uber

March 11, 2019

Ravens’ Parade Trampling Case Reversed by Court of Special Appeals

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

I’m also fired up for a new year of appellate opinions. Something about having a new year on a case that just seems exciting to me. (In an unrelated note, I have four kids and few hobbies.) But there have been few tort related appellate opinions this year to get me fired up.

Anyway, the Maryland Court of Appeals recently decided a Sutton-Witherspoon v. S.A.F.E Management, a case that is factually interesting to almost all of us in Baltimore.

Facts of Case: An Out-of-Control Victory Parade

February 5, 2019

Zostavax Lawsuit February 2019 Update: Federal Court Trials on Tap

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Zostavax Trials Set for 2020

U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has selected the initial “bellwether” cases in the Zostavax MDL. The bellwether Zostavax cases will be grouped into two categories and prepared for five proposed trial dates that will take place between fall 2020 and summer 2021.

You never know how mass tort cases are going to go. But I do think the Zostavax cases might be ripe for settlement long before these cases ever go to trial.

January 28, 2019

Armacost v. Davis: A Practical Decision on Trial Management

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

In Armacost v. Davis, the first appellate tort opinion in Maryland in 2019, the Maryland Court of Appeals was asked to examine whether a trial court’s instructions to the jury were inappropriate and prejudicial in a medical malpractice case alleging negligence after a four-level cervical discectomy and fusion surgery performed by the defendant left the victim with claims of permanent injury. The Maryland high court ultimately held that:

1) The trial court did not mislead the jury as to the applicable law by first giving them general negligence instructions before instructing jurors on the standard of care applicable to the defendant brain surgeon’s actions.

2) The trial court did not abuse its discretion by telling jurors how much longer they would be required to deliberate after they had previously expressed concerns over the length of the trial.

January 6, 2019

Value of Cervical Herniated Disc Cases in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

How much are cervical herniated disc cases worth?

Metro Verdicts Monthly’s graph in this month’s issue is median settlements and verdicts in cervical (neck) herniated disc cases in Maryland, Washington, D.C, and Virginia. The median cervical herniated disc case in Maryland is $40,000. The Washington D.C. and Virginia medians are $50,000 and $36,000, respectively.

Settlement Values Vary Wildly

December 21, 2018

Settlement Value of Headaches in Personal Injury Cases

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

What is the value of head injury cases?

I’m fortunate in that I don’t get many headaches, a blessing I attribute to good hydration and genetic good fortune. On the rare occasion that I do get them, they are debilitating. It is hard to enjoy much of anything in life when you have anything north of a mild headache.

Juries struggle with figuring out how to value personal injury cases when the primary injury is a head injury that caused — and may be continuing to cause — headaches.

November 4, 2018

How to Settle Soft Tissue Car Accident Injury Cases Without a Lawyer

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Get Your Case Settled for a Good Value

I believe car crash injury victims are always better off hiring counsel for many reasons not worth fully exploring here (but I do here). But if there is any type of claim where an injured victim can justify proceeding without a lawyer, it is in the classic neck or back soft tissue/whiplash injury traffic collision case with clearly no permanency.

My belief has always been that the benefit of experienced counsel can bring to a case is going to vary inversely with the severity of the injury. If you have a permanent injury, you are foolish if you don’t hire a lawyer. (I wouldn’t handle my own case either because that is also an awful idea.)

A quality attorney in those cases is statistically going to get you a lot more money – put a lot more money in your pocket – than you would get for yourself. The same is probably true in soft tissue neck/back injury cases, too. But car accident lawyers cannot run from the fact that the difference is much less significant. Some people just prefer the path where lawyers are not taking money away from their settlement. So be it. As long as you understand you run a risk just like you run a risk when you try to install your own bathroom floor, just typically with a lot more money at stake.

October 19, 2018

When Your Personal Injury Client Files for Bankruptcy

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Most personal injury lawyers have had more than a few encounters with consumer bankruptcy proceeding. Personal injury clients frequently file personal bankruptcies.

It is therefore important to know how personal injury claims, settlements, or awards are treated in bankruptcy. The question everyone wants to know is will the client get to keep some or all of their settlement or judgment?

The short answer is yes – as long the settlement proceeds are compensation for pain and suffering or future lost wages.

October 13, 2018

Atrium C-Qur Mesh Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

We have been getting a lot of calls from Atrium C-Qur hernia mesh victims. These poor people have a lot of questions and concerns and we try to lay some of those out for you here.

The C-Qur hernia mesh products are a line of polypropylene surgical implants that were manufactured by Atrium Medical Corp. The C-Qur hernia mesh products were one of several types of implant devices used in hernia repair surgery between 2006 and 2015. Hernia repair is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the U.S. each year.

What are Hernia Mesh & Patch Devices?