In the last couple of weeks, I have has put out a lot of data on compensation awards in medical malpractice cases and in auto and truck accident cases. In my research on these posts, I found some other data comparing different states’ verdicts. I thought it was interesting for lawyers in different jurisdictions to compare verdicts:
New York ……….. $275,000
South Dakota ….. $120,913
A recent study found that juries are more likely to side with doctors in medical malpractice cases. The study showed that juries are skeptical of people and their lawyers who sue their doctors and that most medical malpractice trials result in a verdict for the medical doctors. (See yesterday’s Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog post for one more reason they may be skeptical.)
The author of the study, Philip Peters Jr., of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, concluded that juries treat doctors favorably, “perhaps unfairly so,” and are more likely than even fellow physicians to defer to a doctor’s opinion.
Peters found that most medical malpractice rulings are in favor of the health care provider and that the cases that go to trial are the weakest ones since those with sound evidence usually settle before trial. In an examination of win rates in New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida, and Michigan, Peters found that 27% to 30% of medical malpractice suits end in a plaintiff’s verdict, the lowest success rate of any tort litigation. In Maryland, the number is reportedly 8%.
A Jury Verdict Research study found that the median compensatory award for personal injury trials in Minnesota is $32,468. To the delight of Minnesota personal injury lawyers, the study also found that plaintiffs recovered damages in 67% of personal injury cases that go to trial. Both statistics are higher than those in Maryland. The median compensatory award in personal injury trials in Maryland is $12,813. Specifically, in auto accident cases in Maryland, the median verdict is $11,277. This data is arguably misleading. Many small claim type cases find their way to Maryland juries because defense lawyers in personal injury cases in Maryland can remove cases to Circuit Court if the plaintiff seeks more than $10,000 (but less than $25,000, which qualifies it for District Court), which they frequently do, primarily to increase the burden on Maryland personal injury lawyers.
A Florida jury awarded a Lee County (Naples) woman $8.25 million in a medical malpractice case against her plastic surgeon after she lost both her breasts in a botched breast augmentation surgery.
Naples surgeon Dr. Luciano Boemi attempted to give the 28-year-old Plaintiff a breast lift and augmentation in 2003. During the surgery, the Plaintiff’s blood supply was cut, resulting in her breasts turning black and forming a hard, dry tissue. Incredibly and tragically, thirteen surgeries were required to remedy the Plaintiff’s open wounds and to reshape some tissue that remained on her breasts.
For whatever reason, Florida juries are the most generous in the nation. The median personal injury verdict in Florida is $100,000, according to Jury Verdict Research. No wonder personal injury lawyers and medical malpractice attorneys flock to Florida. In contrast, the median verdict in Maryland is $12,813. A Mack truck fits through that gap.
An Arkansas woman whose husband died of smoke inhalation and burns in a camper fire resulting from a refrigerator defect settled her lawsuit against Norcold Refrigerators and a camper dealership for $7 million last week.
The fire’s cause was due to cracked tubing in the camper’s Norcold refrigerator, which resulted in the leaking of flammable hydrogen. Norcold apparently knew of the potential fire hazard as early as 1999 and notified federal officials that it would recall over 40,000 refrigerators. Much like the “FDA approved the drug” defense I have been blogging about in recent months, Norcold contended that it followed federal regulations in conducting the recall.
But the Plaintiff did not receive a recall notice until 6 years after Norcold knew of the defect. Norcold could have found the owners of all the campers by checking their Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN), but it did not do that until late 2004, too late to get notice out to the Plaintiff. In a tragic irony, the Plaintiff received the recall notice seven months after the accident.
Jury Verdict Research reports that the median compensation award in personal injury trials in New Hampshire is $45,000. This is much higher than the national median of $38,460. Also, New Hampshire personal injury victims are more likely to prevail at trial. New Hampshire plaintiffs get a recovery in 63% of cases that go to a verdict, as opposed to the nationwide recovery probability of 55%.
In Maryland, the median personal injury verdict is only $12,813. Why don’t our personal injury lawyers pack up and leave Maryland for New Hampshire?
Besides the frigid weather, Maryland’s jury verdicts are distorted by the defense lawyers from State Farm and Allstate, the two largest auto insurance providers in Maryland, who routinely “bump up” smaller claims to jury trials.
A Prince George’s County undercover narcotics police officer who shot and killed an unarmed college student, who he chased from Prince George’s County, Maryland to Fairfax County, Virginia, was held responsible for his wrongful death yesterday by a jury that awarded $3.7 million to the family of the man who was killed.
Terrell N. Roberts III, the personal injury attorney for the victim’s family, noted after the verdict that neither the state of Virginia nor the Justice Department filed charges against the officer, nor did Prince George’s County police find any wrongdoing by the officer. Yet a Prince George’s County jury looking at the same facts found differently.
These types of claims are nothing new in Prince George’s County, who paid $4.6 million in jury verdicts and out-of-court settlements in lawsuits in 2004. In the last 5 years, not including this verdict, the county paid $16.3 million in jury awards and settlements alleging excessive force or other forms of misconduct or negligence by P.G. County police officers.
Maryland Injury Law Center