Semsker v. Lockshin

Outcome: Verdict for plaintiffs $5.8 million

Description: A jury found a prominent dermatology practice in Silver Spring, Maryland liable for the death of Richard Semsker, a 47-year-old attorney who left a wife and twin daughters. Mr. Semsker was treated at the office of Norman Lockshin, M.D., P.A., on five occasions in the fall of 2004 for growths on his back, but the dermatologist left on the back a large mole that turned into a malignant melanoma two years later. The trial judge later made an important ruling for Maryland victims of malpractice when he refused to reduce the verdict for the artificial "cap" on damages imposed by the legislature. The judge held that the way the legislature had rewritten the cap statute in 2005 made it inapplicable to cases like this one.