Bowie Maryland Legal Blog

The birth of a child is one of the most eagerly anticipated events in anyone's life. The hope is that the baby will be born healthy, but sadly this is not always the case in Maryland or elsewhere. A recent case of a baby born in another state resulted in a medical malpractice case that originated when a cancer treatment was reportedly improperly administered.

A few months after the child's birth, the baby girl was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The prescribed treatment included chemotherapy administered via spinal injection. Following one such treatment, the child's mother became concerned when the infant became fussy and was not moving her legs. A doctor's examination revealed that the baby had suffered a spinal cord injury causing partial paralysis.

Divorce can be very stressful and very expensive. There are steps that a person in Maryland can take to help assuage the financial stressors that can occur in a high-asset divorce. One of the most important things is to have awareness regarding both long and short-term finances.

A recent study by Fidelity showed that lack of knowledge of day-to-day expenses caused significant problems for those people post-divorce. Financial recovery took significantly longer than for those who were familiar with the day-to-day household budgets and expenses. Likewise, a lack of familiarity with long-term financial planning and retirement savings led to challenges in post-divorce life.

Serving in the military is definitely a career choice that comes with some risks. And it is reasonable that a soldier would not be able to file a claim for an injury received on the battlefield. A new law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020 in Maryland and in the rest of the country does allow for filing claims against military doctors for negligence or medical malpractice.

The first claim came from the man for whom the legislation was named, Richard Stayskal. He is suffering from stage 4 lung cancer and claims that the illness could have been detected and treated sooner. He underwent a routine physical at Womack Army Medical Center in 2017. The cancer went undetected. His health declined following that exam and he consulted a civilian physician who diagnosed the cancer.

People enter hospitals every day for surgical procedures in Maryland. Some of these procedures are performed because of an emergency situation, and some procedures are elective. One feature surgeries in general typically have in common is the need for some form of anesthesia. Successfully administered anesthesia is critical to the successful outcome of an operation, and an error in administering anesthesia can cause permanent damage or death, and result in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Communication between patients, families and medical staff can contribute to the successful outcome of a procedure and to enabling an anesthesiologist to successfully do his or her job. Information such as medical history, known allergies and other issues can yield valuable and sometimes lifesaving information. Pre-operative assessments are intended to inform a medical staff of issues that may impact how anesthesia is handled.