Patrick A Malone's Answers

The Maryland Statute of Limitations for Malpractice question

The Maryland statute of limitations gives you one possible way of still having a viable case. Under the Edmonds v. Cytology Services decision in the MD Court of Appeals (also decided in the intermediate appellate court, the court of special appeals, under that title; the name of the case changed slightly when it reached the MD Ct of App and I don't have that name handy), the date that starts the 3 yr/5 yr clock is the date the injury was committed, NOT necessarily the same as the date that the...

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Is it against the Law to ask your doctor how about trying another kind of medication?

Your query suggests to me that you should think about getting another doctor who treats you with respect as an adult. I talk about this extensively in my book, "The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care -- and Avoiding the Worst" which you can get at Amazon or read the first chapter here: www.lifeyousave.com. I have a whole chapter about finding a primary care doctor and the need for good communications and a good relationship if you are to get effective care. Good luck!

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Can I sue my doctor for failure to screen for colorectal cancer?

I recently prosecuted such a case successfully, so the short answer is yes, your mother in law may have a case. However a key issue is going to be determining whether the delay in diagnosis, which sounds like around nine months from your account, made a difference in letting the cancer go from curable to essentially incurable. She will need to obtain all her relevant medical records and imaging studies and then consult with a qualified medical malpractice lawyer, who will likely want to...

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Can I sue my PCP for failing to diagnosis & prescribing my child with same class of medicine from the Penicillin Group?

The very simple bottom line of your story is that without serious permanent harm, you have little to sue for, even if the first pediatrician was negligent. The measure of how much money your child could recover is how much ultimate harm was done. I always counsel clients that without life-changing injury, it's usually not worth bringing a suit, because the expense of hiring expert witnesses, and the psychic toll of reliving the events over and over, can far outweigh any ultimate dollars you win.

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Can I sue a hospital for releasing me too soon after a head injury and after a couple hours of being discharged, I had siezures

The key problem for any legal case is in proving that something different would have happened if they had kept you in the hospital, and you wouldn't have had the seizure or blood clot in your brain, or otherwise you'd be much better off now. Since it looks like you were out of the hospital for only four hours, it sounds like it would be hard to prove how it would have mattered if they had kept you. But I agree you should speak to a qualified malpractice attorney in your area.

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Can I sue one department of a military hospital and still be able to use the services of other departments?

If you were not active duty military when this occurred, you can potentially bring a case, which starts by filing a "standard form 95" with the hospital. My website page on military malpractice has a link to this form: http://www.patrickmalonelaw.com/lawyer-attorney-1288740.html. But you should hire a lawyer experienced in FTCA cases. To answer your headline question, yes, filing a claim doesn't make you ineligible for services in other departments, but just remember they are human beings and...

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Can i still Sue?

Yes the NC deadline for suing is extended for children, and although I'm not a North Carolina lawyer, it appears the deadline is the 19th birthday. But you should look into this right away and not wait further. I can recommend several good colleagues in your state if you want to contact our office.

Medical malpractice settlement

If this is a substantial injury, with any kind of permanent condition, you may be penny-wise and pound-foolish to try to handle it yourself rather than obtaining a top lawyer in Indiana. That said, there is no specific deadline on counter-offers but the attorney could potentially run out the clock on your ability to sue if you let the statute of limitations deadline pass by. You need to consult an Indiana attorney to find out what that deadline is. The clock on the limitations deadline doesn'...

How does a family member get an autopsy for a death without paying for it?; this could be a medical malpractice situation.

Do not let the nursing home embalm her until you have called the state medical examiner and ask if they will do the autopsy. On a death at home like this, they should take jurisdiction. If that does not work, then a malpractice attorney in Alabama may be able to help the family line up an autopsy that would be affordable.

Do I have a good chance of winning a malpractice suit?

As the other responders have told you, you will need to consult a lawyer in your home jurisdiction and will need to have all the records available for his or her analysis. However, to answer your question directly, the chances of winning any medical malpractice case are less than 50-50 according to most statistics, and the chances of winning a psychiatric misdiagnosis case that stretches over many years would be less than that, in my estimate. But I don't want to discourage you from seeking...