Articles Posted in Maryland

The term birth injury means physical injuries or damage to a newborn baby that is caused by something that occurs during the process of labor and delivery. A majority of birth injuries are the direct result of mistakes or negligence by doctors and health care providers. In many cases, injuries during birth can leave a child disabled for life. In Maryland, parents are legally entitled to compensation when their child suffers a birth injury caused by negligence.  In this post, we will outline the relevant Maryland birth injury malpractice law and the value of birth injury lawsuits in Maryland.

Miller & Zois is based in Baltimore, Maryland, so we have particular expertise in Maryland birth injury law and settlement value.

Common Birth Injuries in Maryland

The Baltimore car accident lawyers at Miller & Zois have delivered millions in compensation to the victims of auto collisions over the years.

Our goal in every Baltimore, MD car accident claim our attorneys take is to get the maximum amount of compensation for our clients. Our accident lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless and until we get compensation in your case.

This page will look at the topics and questions that really matter to people who are considering whether to file an auto accident lawsuit and which personal injury law firm in Baltimore to hire:

A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge has given the “go ahead” for a student’s lawsuit to proceed – for now, at least – against Morgan State University, denying a Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit.

Awful details here.  The 23-year-old Plaintiff has filed suit against Morgan State for failing to act to protect students and visitors on the university campus.  The lawsuit, which seeks more than $75,000 on each of three counts consistent with Maryland’s new law not to ask for specific damages in the Complaint,  was filed as a result of a horrific beating that the Plaintiff received by the hands of a man later found not criminally responsible due to mental illness.

The lawsuit alleges that there was foreseeability on the school’s part that something bad would happen.  That’s where the claim gets a little tricky.   The attacker, prone to violent outbursts at college events, attacked the Plaintiff with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, blinding him in one eye.  The lawsuit states that the warning signs were there, but that Morgan State failed to act.  Previously found wielding a machete on campus, and known to leave satanic rants on social media sites, the attacker has since been arrested on a separate case.  Charged with murder, it is alleged that he killed and dismembered a family friend, and consumed some of the deceased’s organs.

The hospital formerly known as St. Joseph Medical Center has reached yet another settlement – this time with the federal government and the state of Maryland. What for this time? This one is for submitting false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs.

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The New England Compounding Center has been blamed for the fatal fungal meningitis outbreak that recently killed 44 people and left another 650 seriously ill. Plaintiffs’ lawyers always speak in moderated terms, avoiding phrases like “we have they dead to rights.” But, boy, it sure looks like an open and shut case from where I’m standing.

Anyway, a Massachusetts bankruptcy court judge has frozen the assets of the specialty pharmacy’s four owners so that victims and creditors may make claims against the company. Under the new court order, NECC’s owners will be unable to access their assets other than to pay legal bills and living expenses. NECC had previously filed for Chapter 11 protection and is already facing 150 lawsuits. A hearing has been scheduled for February 28, 2013.

The deadly meningitis outbreak has been linked to a steroid injection produced by NECC. A government investigation revealed unsanitary pharmacy conditions and flawed sterility testing procedures. During an October facility visit, federal investigators found widespread mold among other contaminants. According to the FDA report on NECC, “clean” areas of the facility had visible surface discolorations and standing water. The company voluntarily ceased operations on October 4, 2012.

Last November, NECC’s director was called in front of the House of Representatives to explain the FDA report. He exercised his Fifth Amendment rights and did not comment on NECC’s facilities or the company’s link to the outbreak. Following a denial of liability, NECC blamed its cleaning company, UniFirst. Passing the buck in turn, UniFirst acknowledged that one of its subsidiary companies was contracted to clean NECC’s facilities but asserts that the services were limited and that the unsafe conditions and tainted drugs were not because of the actions of UniFirst employees. UniFirst reports that it sent two employees to NECC once a month for a total of ninety minutes. UniFirst also claims that the janitorial team only used NECC’s cleaning solutions.

This is not the first time NECC has been under scrutiny for failing government inspections or shipping tainted products. In 2003 the company had problems with contaminated medication and in 2006 the company was cited for unclean conditions.

Last year, at least 89 medical facilities in Maryland received drug shipments from NECC. Some of these shipments were linked to deadly steroids. Maryland buyers include the University of Maryland Medical Center, Northwest Hospital, and Greater Baltimore Medical Center. More than 3,000 facilities nationwide purchased from NECC.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced a second death in Maryland as a result of the fungal meningitis outbreak that has been linked to tainted steroid injections.

We first told you in October that an outbreak of fungal meningitis was affecting several states including Maryland. Meningitis, a serious and potentially fatal infection near the brain and spinal cord, can cause brain damage or death. The CDC states that they have received 25 reported cases in Maryland, including the two deaths.

The CDC’s website shows the second death was reported sometime within the past week, though state health officials don’t have any details yet about the latest death. The CDC has reported that 590 illnesses and 37 deaths nationwide are now linked to the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts.

According to a study by Jury Verdict Research, the average gunshot wound verdict is $727,852 ($100,000 median).

For the purposes of this study, a gunshot wound is defined as soft tissue damage to the victim caused by birdshot, a pellet gun, BB gun or traditional gun with no organ damage, fractures, paralysis, brain damage, visual impairment or hearing loss.

It is difficult to recover damages for an intentional gunshot wound because it is difficult to get insurance for intentional acts and it is even more difficult to claim that the company/municipality the shooter was working for was vicariously liable.