Note: post was originally in 2012. It has been updated in November 2018 to discuss a new martial privilege case, Sewell v. State, now pending before the Maryland Court of Appeals with a decision coming any day now. I never write about marital privilege. But I have an interest in…
Fetal macrosomia is a medical term that means fetal weight at birth is greater than 4000 grams (8 lbs. 13 oz). Compared to the size of other newborns of the same gestational age, this is considered excessive fetal growth. Your doctor will be concerned with the baby’s probable weight at…
I’m always interested in the Metro Verdicts Monthly graph on the front of their publication which compares verdicts and settlements for a certain type of personal injury claim in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Sometimes I am surprised by the difference in the results. Digging up an older copy, I…
In recent years, we have been picking up more malpractice cases — primarily birth injury cases — in jurisdictions outside of Maryland and D.C. We have handled claims close to home like Pennsylvania and West Virginia and we have also handled (and settled) cases as far away as Oregon. To…
I just hung up with an adjuster from Erie after a settlement call. It is difficult to settle a personal injury claim with an adjuster who does not — or pretends not to — understand the law. One thing I can say about Erie is that the Erie adjusters—particularly in…
Women experiencing typical pregnancies are not offered the option of inducing labor at 39 weeks. That might change. A recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) suggests that electively inducing labor 1 week before the due date decreases the risk of complications and leads to a safer…
A neonatal stroke (also called a perinatal stroke) is defined as an interruption of blood flow to an infant’s brain that occurs between 20 weeks gestation and first 28 days after the child is born. Neonatal strokes can be ischemic or hemorrhagic. Ischemic neonatal strokes are caused by some form…
In June 2018, a study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal which shows there has been an alarming increase in the rate of birth injuries resulting from forceps-assisted deliveries. This does not surprise me because our obstetrician experts have been telling us for years that the new generation…
I look at every medical malpractice case that gets filed in Maryland. It is incredible to me how many lawyers wait until the last minute to file a lawsuit. In Dunham v. University of Maryland Medical Center, a bedsore case decided a few weeks ago by the Maryland Court of…
I have long said it is an open question under Maryland law whether you are required to give a recorded statement to your own insurance company if you are making an uninsured motorist claim even if the insurance contract obligates you to do so. The theory is that Maryland has…