Posted on June 21, 2010 in Medical Malpractice

Attorneys Andrew G. Slutkin, Jamison G. White and the law firm of Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White have filed one of the first medical malpractice lawsuits against Dr. Mari Midei, Midatlantic Cardiovascular and St. Joseph Medical Center as a result of Dr. Midei unnecessary implanting a patient with a cardiac stent during cardiac catheterization. The lawsuit, which is sure to be followed by many others, makes claims for medical negligence; negligent hiring, retention and/or supervision; fraud; concealment; negligent misrepresentation; battery; intentional infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium. A copy of the lawsuit can be viewed here

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 Posted on June 21, 2010 in Appeals - State & Federal

Today the Maryland Court of Appeals issued an opinion on the proper use of voire dire in Maryland criminal trials.

Facts: Charles & Drake were tried together on charges stemming from the death of Bryant Jones. Both were convicted of second degree murder. Prior to the trial, the State submitted 3 voir dire questions concerning "CSI type" scientific evidence. Over defense counsel’s objection, the trial judge asked a single question which he drafted stating that he assumed the jurors watched TV such as CSI and Law and Order and that those shows relied on scientific evidence to convict- therefore, if "you are currently of the opinion or belief that you cannot convict a defendant without scientific evidence, please rise." The Court of Special Appeals ruled that the question was appropriate. The Court of Appeals reversed.

Ruling: The Court noted that the language of the voir dire question suggested that the jury’s only option was to convict, regardless of the evidence presented. This suggestive question poisoned the jury thereby depriving the defendant of the right to a fair trial.

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 Posted on June 16, 2010 in Medical Malpractice

A Florida jury has ordered a woman’s ex-doctor to pay $36.6 million in a medical malpractice case for failing to properly perform a steroid injection, causing damage to the woman’s spinal cord. The woman now has a disfigured right arm and suffers from constant pain since the pain management doctor left her with a four-inch hole in her spinal cord. The woman had sought treatment from the doctor for a car accident.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have successfully handled many medical malpractice cases involving spinal cord injuries. These injuries can be catastrophic, causing a life-time of pain, medical and other care expenses and lost income. Recently, I obtained a record settlement in the case of a woman who was paralyzed during spinal cord stimulator surgery. Now, I am representing a man who suffered a spinal cord injury during disk surgery, causing him to suffer paralysis. Malpractice causing a person to be paralyzed deserves to be compensated, due to the extreme nature of the injury.

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 Posted on June 14, 2010 in Medical Malpractice

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, administrative charges have been filed by the Maryland Board of Physicians against Dr. Mark Midei, the Towson cardiologist accused of medical malpractice for implanting unnecessary cardiac stents in more than five hundred people. A copy of an article detailing the charges can be found here.

I was unable to easily find online a copy of the Maryland Board of Physicians’ Complaint against Dr. Mark Midei charging document, so I obtained a copy from the Board. You can view the document by clicking here

Read more here:https://www.marylandmedicalmalpracticelawyerblog.com/dr_mark_mideis_license_revoked/

We handle cases like these all of the time in my practice.

Contact Andrew G. Slutkin with further questions or inquiries at 410-385-2786

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 Posted on June 11, 2010 in Medical Malpractice

Dr. Mark Midei, the cardiologist accused of implanting unnecessary cardiac stents in over five hundred people, has been administratively charged by the Maryland Board of Physicians, according to the charging document made public today. The charges include "gross overutilization of health care services" and "willfully making a false report or record in the practice of medicine."

The charges stem from an investigation by St. Joseph Medical Center, which began after a St. Joe employee claimed that Dr. Midei was fraudulently implanting patients with cardiac stents. St. Joe’s investigation, which examined only a two year time frame during which Dr. Midei performed 2000 stent procedures, found that approximately one in four cardiac stents that he emplaced (over 500 patients) were unnecessary.

In my opinion, the charges are certain to be sustained in this high-profile instance of medical malpractice. It is one thing for a patient or a patient’s lawyers to accuse a doctor of malpractice, but when Dr. Midei’s former employer and peers on the medical board accuse him of widespread malpractice, common sense dictates that it has merit.

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 Posted on June 10, 2010 in Medical Malpractice

A Pennsylvania jury has awarded $1.2 million to the widow of a man in a medical malpractice suit against a hospital and two doctors. The man died in 1999, two days after he was sent home from an emergency room, complaining he had chest pains and had been vomiting for three days. An autopsy determined that he had an ulcerated esophagus and the cause of death was sepsis caused by the perforated esophagus, which allowed food to go into his pleural cavity.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have successfully handled a number of medical malpractice cases against emergency room doctors for failing to timely diagnose and treat life threatening conditions. The rule is "if there is any doubt, you can’t rule it out." Here, a simple radiology test, such as an x-ray or esophageal sonogram would have showed what was going on with this man. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

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 Posted on June 02, 2010 in Criminal Defense

Maryland Criminal Attorney reviews Miranda decision by Supreme Court. In its recent decision in Berghuis v. Thompkins the Supreme Court, in what some view as a paradoxical ruling, ruled that a defendant must affirmatively invoke his right to remain silent or his right to an attorney after being advised of his Miranda Rights. In other words, the Court ruled that a defendant must speak in order to invoke his right not to speak.

In this case, Thomkins was arrested for murder. He was taken into custody and read the Miranda Rights that are familiar to most all of us who have ever seen an episode of Law and Order. After being advised of his right to remain silent, Thomkins did just that; he remained silent throughout almost 3 hours of questioning by the detective. The detective finally broke Thomkins’ silence by asking him if he prayed to God to which he replied that he did. The Detective then asked him if he prayed to God for forgiveness for shooting the victim in this case and Thompkins answered in the affirmative.

The statement was introduced against Thomkins at trial over his counsel’s objection and he was convicted of murder. In yet another 5-4 ruling by the Roberts Court, the Conservative wing of the court upheld the conviction and ruled that a defendant must affirmatively invoke the right to remain silent. Justice Sonya Sotomayor wrote the dissent and noted that " Criminal Suspects must now unambiguously invoke their right to remain silent – which counter-intuitively requires them to speak". She went on to note that this ruling inescapably leads to the conclusion that a "suspect will be legally presumed to have waived their rights even if they have given no clear expression of their intent to do so’.

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 Posted on May 27, 2010 in Medical Malpractice

An Illinois hospital, a nurse midwife and the nurse’s employer have agreed to a $9.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by family who alleged that they were responsible for causing their son to be born with cerebral palsy. The woman was admitted to the hospital in labor and the nurse failed to get a doctor when the woman requested one after she began experiencing complications.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have successfully handled a number of cerebral palsy and other birth injury medical malpractice cases. These cases are always tragic as they permanently affect the life of a child and his or her family. Often times, these tragedies can be prevented with proper care that meets the standard of care.

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 Posted on May 26, 2010 in Appeals - State & Federal

Today in the case of State v. Campbell, Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin and White’s criminal appeals lawyers convinced the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to reverse a Circuit Court for Baltimore County Judge thereby winning the freedom of a client serving a ten year sentence-without parole. The firm did not represent the client at the trial, but after the bad result, was retained to handle the appeal.

The Facts:

Baltimore County police see a drug transaction conducted from a Lincoln navigator. The police stop the buyer who says he bought drugs from the vehicle. The police lose sight of the vehicle. Four hours later, the police stop the car with guns drawn. The defense argued there was no probable cause to stop the vehicle four hours later because the police had no description of the sellers of narcotics four hours before. Judge Dana Levitz of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County said there was probable cause and sentenced the defendant to ten years without parole.

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 Posted on May 26, 2010 in Appeals - State & Federal

Today, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals vacated a murder conviction because defendant’s right to counsel violated.

Facts:

The victim was stabbed in Hagerstown Maryland. Based on a review of images captured by security cameras, Adams was a suspect. Adams fled the scene but was picked up on a parole violation in Baltimore. He was brought back to Hagerstown for questioning. He was advised of his rights per Miranda, executed a waiver and made inculpatory statements. Adams was then charged with first degree murder and counsel entered his appearance. Months later, the prosecutor asked the detective to serve on Adams the notice seeking life without parole. The detective went to the detention center. Criminal defense counsel was not present. After seeing the notice, Adams said “why is the state going after me so hard?” The detective said “because you stabbed a guy 32 times.” Adams responded that he only stabbed the guy seven times and then went into detail about where he stabbed him. Defense counsel moved to suppress the statements. The trial court denied his motion.

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