Jury awards $950,000 to family in medical malpractice case

An out-of-state jury recently awarded $950,000 to a deceased man’s family as a result of a medical malpractice suit. The man died after seeking treatment for chest pains. In Maryland, when negligent medical care results in patients experiencing serious injury or results in their death, they — or, in the case of their death, their family — may be entitled to file a medical malpractice suit against the party or parties who are believed to be responsible.

The 73-year-old man had sought treatment in Oct. 2008 for chest pains. He was admitted to and treated at a medical center’s emergency room on Oct. 6 and 7 in 2008. He was then admitted to a hospital in the area on Oct. 9, 2008 under his primary care physician’s care, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges that the primary care physician acted negligently in not ordering the appropriate tests as well as the fact that he did not refer his patient to a cardiologist. The jury’s verdict, which was returned after a two-week trial, was one of the first, as well as largest, of its kind in Ford County, Illinois. A previous settlement in the amount of $370,000 occurred in 2007 in relation to another medical malpractice suit.

Victims of medical malpractice in Maryland are legally entitled to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit against the party or parties believed to have acted negligently. When this kind of suit is successfully navigated, it may result in the entry of a monetary judgment for damages sustained by victims or their families, which can help lessen some of the costs associated with these kinds of injuries. A medical malpractice victim — or his or her family — often begins this process by consulting with an experienced personal injury attorney in order to assess the validity of the victim’s claim.

Source: pantagraph.com, “Ford County jury returns $950,000 verdict“, Edith Brady-Lunny, Dec. 16, 2015