Maryland: 301-854-9000/410-995-1515 | Northern Virginia: 703-916-1227 | Richmond, Virginia: 804-643-3783 | Washington, D.C.: 202-554-1449

Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyers/Virginia Medical Malpractice Attorneys/Washington, D.C.

Medical malpractice errors are extremely prevalent.  In fact, they account for nearly 100,000 deaths each year.  Research shows that more people die from medical mistakes than from car accidents. 

Over the last twenty years our medical malpractice clients have addressed numerous questions to Portner & Shure attorneys at the initial meetings. Since some of these questions have been repeated by different medical malpractice clients, on countless occasions, we have included them on a separate section of this website for your reference. To view the questions and answers "click here".

Portner & Shure attorneys have won by themselves, or with co-counsel, verdicts and settlements in most areas of medical malpractice.  Our Maryland medical malpractice attorneys and Virginia medical malpractice lawyers work on cases involving:

• Birth Injury / Cerebral Palsy
• Brain damage
• Cancer misdiagnosis
• Medication overdoses
• Surgical and Anesthesia negligence
• Wrongful death or injury due to medical negligence 

Medical malpractice is a complex field of law.  By definition it means that a health care provider caused injury or death to a patient by failing to act within the applicable standard of care.  In other words, a physician or health care provider commits medical malpractice when he or she fails to act reasonably under the circumstances and the unreasonable conduct causes harm.  To be successful a malpractice lawyer must possess not only excellent legal knowledge, but also have familiarity with the health care profession and proper medical treatment.   In every case we accept, our litigators work as a team, with co-counsel, who has a registered nurse on staff and is affiliated with numerous physicians who can immediately evaluate the medical aspects of any claim. 

Unfortunately, medical procedures sometimes result in poor outcomes that could have not been predicted or avoided.  Simply put, just because a patient experiences a complication, does not mean that the doctor did anything wrong.  If a physician practices long enough he or she will experience an unforeseen result.  Some medical mistakes of course are obvious, such as a surgeon leaving an instrument inside a patient.  Most mistakes, however, are far less obvious.  To ascertain whether you or someone you know has been a victim of medical malpractice, you should contact an experienced Maryland medical malpractice attorney or Virginia medical malpractice lawyer. 

If you retain Portner & Shure, one of our medical malpractice attorneys will then investigate the merits of your case.  The process involves our staff obtaining all pertinent medical records.  This process can take months to complete.  Mr. Portner or Mr. Shure, or our co-counsel, will review the records for signs of medical malpractice.  In many cases, if we have a question we will have a doctor, nurse or other medical professional review the records and render a professional opinion.  Due to our firm's connections in the medical field, no delay will occur in trying to find a qualified medical practitioner to conduct the review. 

COMMON MEDICAL MALPRACTICE AREAS

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy is a chronic medical condition caused by damage to the developing  brain.  It often occurs from difficult labor or problems during delivery that cause lack of oxygen, bleeding, head trauma or other injury.  Birth injuries that may result in brain damage include failure to order a C-Section in a timely manner, excessive use of a vacuum extractor, failure to treat seizures following birth and improper delivery.  An estimated 6,000 to 10,000 infants and children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year.  Cerebral palsy's motor component can affect just the lower limbs or all four limbs.  Children affected may also suffer from other problems such as vision and/or hearing loss, mental retardation, difficulty swallowing, learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. 

To be successful in these cases the legal team must work closely with experts in fields of obstetrics, maternal & fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatric neurology, neuro-imaging, child development, rehabilitation, vocational placement and economic analysis of past and future loss.  With respect to economic loss, the costs providing proper care for a child over a lifetime can exceed millions of dollars.  If your child has CP you must consider whether it is the result of negligence on the part of the doctor who managed your pregnancy and/or labor or delivery. 

Mr. Portner's father is still a practicing obgyn in Colorado.  With the help of his father's medical experience of over forty years, he has spent a considerable amount of time learning and evaluating issues in this area of law.  While going over issues in these cases with his father's colleagues, he has gained access to some of the leading experts in this field of medicine. 

Learning that a newborn child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy is one of the greatest fears of expecting parents. A diagnosis of cerebral palsy often means that a child could suffer from a number of potentially crippling disabilities, including muscular deformity, involuntary movement, seizures, speech disorders and mental retardation for the rest of their lives. Although a specific cause of cerebral palsy has not been pinpointed, the general consensus is that cerebral palsy is brought on by some form of injury to the brain of the infant before, during, or shortly after birth. Fortunately for those that suffer from cerebral palsy and their parents, awards in cerebral palsy cases are usually substantial because of the long term effect of the condition and the high cost of medical care associated with the disorder.  

In Frederick County, a jury recently yielded an award of close to four million dollars to the family of a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy after birth. In this case, the mother, who was eight months pregnant at the time, began to complain of severe and persistent pain and vomiting. After alternative treatments were attempted, the child was born via cesarean section hours after the mother's complaints. Upon birth, the child demonstrated signs of oxygen depravation to the brain, which is commonly associated with cerebral palsy. At trial, the family alleged that the failure of the attending physicians to properly evaluate, diagnose and treat the mother was the cause of the child's cerebral palsy. The jury agreed with the family, and rendered an award of nearly four million dollars for past and future medical expenses, future lost income and non-economic damages.  

If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a number of factors may indicate that the condition has been caused or exacerbated by medical negligence. Common indicators of medical negligence shown shortly after birth are if a child is under-oxygenated or has bluish skin, seizures, trouble breathing, or an abnormal fluxuation of body temperature. Use of vacuum extraction or heart rate abnormalities are also indicators of medical negligence. Other factors that could indicate medical negligence are whether the attending physicians addressed changes in the condition of the pregnant mother, whether physicians addressed changes in the condition of the fetus, whether a cesarean section was ordered in a timely manner, and whether there is a family history of brain damage.  

If you or your child suffers from cerebral palsy and you believe that the condition was a result of medical negligence, you should contact a medical malpractice attorney immediately. The Maryland medical malpractice lawyers and Virginia medical malpractice attorneys at Portner & Shure have many years of experience providing aggressive representation for the victims of cerebral palsy and other forms of medical malpractice in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.. 

Cancer Misdiagnosis

Early detection of cancer is essential to successful treatment, higher survival rates and decreased costs of medical bills for cancer patients.  Failing to order appropriate tests that could reveal cancer in its early stages is a medical problem.  If cancer is diagnosed after the disease has advanced to a more serious stage, more drastic forms of treatment, such as higher doses of radiation and chemotherapy, are required.  These treatments may have been unnecessary if the disease was detected earlier.  They are both painful and at times debilitating. 

In cancer cases, physicians often fail to take patient complaints seriously, and as a result, are negligent for: 

• failing to identify an obvious lump during an examination
• failing to order proper tests including X-rays, CT scans, MRI's, or a biopsy
• failing to properly evaluate test results that have been performed
• failing to follow-up with a patient 

Both Mr. Shure and Mr. Portner had cancer strike close to home.  In one case, involving Mr. Shure's family member who died as a result of the negligence, there was a claim made for late diagnosis.  Suit was filed and the doctor settled for over a million dollars. 

It is important to know that many cases of cancer are curable, or can be put into remission if treated early.  The following types of cancer are known to respond well to early treatment: 

• breast and ovarian
• lung
• prostate
• colon
• testicular
• cervical
• kidney 

If you believe your physician misdiagnosed your cancer and is negligent, you cannot delay in acting.  All states have a statute of limitations that limit the time in which you have to file these claims.  

HOW MUCH IS YOUR MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE WORTH?

Numerous factors affect the value of your case.  While there is no magic formula, a Maryland medical malpractice attorney or Virginia medical malpractice lawyer who understands how to properly evaluate damages, can determine the full value of a claim.  A jury is told to award damages that would fairly compensate the Plaintiff.  Fair compensation can be argued by going through the following factors: 

Medical Bills:  The total dollar amount of your bills. 

Lost Wages:  If you are fully or partially disabled then you can make a lost wage claim.  Wages can be calculated for your entire work life expectancy, obviously this amount could be a gigantic sum.  In many cases, Portner & Shure retains an expert economist to help with this calculation. 

Consortium:  This term is the loss of benefits from a relationship due to an injury.  It describes the loss of the following between the injured party and their spouse:  companionship, affection, and sexual activity 

Pain and Suffering: Recovering damages for pain and suffering really depends on the attorney effectively showing how the injury has impacted your life.  Video and before and after witnesses should be used to reveal how life altering the injury is to the victim.  Has the injury: (a) altered activities you once enjoyed including but not limited to, sports, vacations, driving, walking, sitting, and standing; (b) affected your sleep, moods, and energy level. 

Wrongful Death: In these types of cases there are additional factors that determine the value of the claim, they include: 

• Dependency of surviving members on the deceased
• Earning capacity of the deceased

PHYSICIAN REVIEW

Before choosing a doctor look into his background.  Check to see if he or she has been disciplined.

Maryland and Virginia medical negligence cases are serious, difficult and time consuming. Portner & Shure carefully screens medical malpractice claims. If the firm agrees to take a case we find the best experts possible to work on your behalf and front all expenses regardless of the cost.

We are aggressive and spend all the time necessary to prepare your case. Within the last two years, this process has resulted in several large verdicts. In fact, in a recent case, with the use of a handwriting expert, Portner & Shure was able to prove that a doctor actually altered medical records to avoid the discovery of his terrible mistake. He was not successful. In fact, our client obtained a substantial recovery because we proved this doctor was a fraud.

We serve the following counties:
Virginia - Loudoun County, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Fauquier County, Fredericksburg County, Clark County and Warren County
Maryland - Anne Arundel County, Howard County, Baltimore County, Harford County, Baltimore City, Prince George's County, Frederick County, and Montgomery County

Frequent Questions for Medical Malpractice:

• What is medical malpractice of negligence?
• How common is medical malpractice in the United States?
• Are all medical mistakes medical malpractice?
• How do you give a doctor a check-up?

Videos about Medical Malpractice:

• Abogado con experiencia de negligencia medica