On Wednesday, a Baltimore City jury awarded a 78-year-old Owings Mills woman $2 million in a medical malpractice case stemming from a failed surgery that led to three successive leg amputations.
After the verdict, Defendant’s lawyer gave this quote to the Maryland Daily Record: “This reaffirms my long held view that it is extremely difficult for a physician to get a fair trial in Baltimore City, particularly where there is a bad outcome and a sympathetic Plaintiff.”
If I were the reporter, I would have asked a few follow-up questions. Do you think the people of Baltimore are not as smart and more prone to emotion then, let’s say, a Baltimore County jury? Why do you think this is? Is it just malpractice cases we cannot trust them with, or all cases? What should we do about this problem with Baltimore City jurors? Should we replace Baltimore City jurors with the right people, like the good folks in, let’s say, Potomac. If Baltimore City jurors can’t be fair on juries, should we continue to trust them to vote?
Congratulations to the malpractice victim and her lawyers Charles J. Piven of Brower Piven in Baltimore and Barry J. Diamond.