Bowie Maryland Legal Blog

Reports indicate that a recent medical malpractice award considerably outstrips what a Maryland woman initially sought for a 2014 birth injury that allegedly caused her daughter to develop a debilitating chronic condition. Reduced from $229 million by a state malpractice cap, the $205 million judgment is nevertheless the largest in U.S. history, according to attorneys. The court approved the award in July, and a judge in Baltimore recently upheld it. 

The woman's daughter is now 5 years old and requires around-the-clock care due to cerebral palsy allegedly resulting from lack of oxygen during childbirth. Her attorney claims that the woman declined a cesarean section on the basis of erroneous information from the hospital staff that her baby could not live outside the womb. For their part, medical staff reportedly stopped monitoring the baby's condition perinatally. 

Couples who make the tough choice to end their marriages know that the road ahead can be challenging. If you and your spouse in Maryland are in this position, it will be important for you to know how to advocate for your rights through every step of the process. A lot of attention in a divorce can be placed on who will get what asset. This may be a house, a vacation home, a boat, a retirement plan or something else. However, it is equally important for you to educate yourself on how debts may be split.

As explained by SoFi, you should not rely on your divorce decree to do all of the work in dividing your debts. This is because any creditor is bound by the terms of the credit agreement, not by your divorce degree. For example, if your spouse is supposed to make the mortgage payments but they fail to do so, the bank may contact you for payment if your joint home loan is still in effect.

Upon hearing the term "medical error" or "medical malpractice", many people's minds think about things like an instrument being left inside a patient's body after a surgery or not having a serious condition properly diagnosed. These are some examples of errors that can result in harm or even death to patients in Maryland but there are many other types as well. Several people may experience problems relating to medications that they are prescribed by doctors.

Becker's Hospital Review reported on the results of a study that outlined the top 10 causes of harm or death to patients related to prescription medications. Interestingly, the number one cause on the list was not even about a drug. Over 37% of people experienced an error due to a delay in the prescription being issued or filled or to the prescription being forgotten altogether. Being given a drug that the person is allergic to or that negatively interacts with another medication were other causes on the list. Being given a high dose at the outset and then tapering the amount was also found to be connected to many problems.

Student loans have become almost essential for many people attending college today. There is a large number of Maryland residents who must make student loan payments for several years after graduating. Some people even continue paying student loan debt for decades if they have gone on to graduate school or professional school, like medical or law school. It is also not unusual for a person to be married and still take out student loans to pay for these degrees. Your spouse may be one of these people.

If you and your spouse have made the choice to get divorced but they still owe money in student loan debt, you will want to understand whether or not that debt could become yours after the divorce is final. According to Saving for College, there are some situations in which student loan debt can be considered marital property. One big factor in determining this is when your spouse took out the loan or loans.