Settling With The Defendant for Policy Requires Notice to the Underinsured Carrier.

Maryland law has already addressed the issue of settling with the defendant insurance carrier for policy limits when there is excess of coverage available under the plaintiff's underinsured motorist coverage. The court recently addressed this issue in an auto accident case wherein a suit for underinsured motorist benefits was filed. The policyholder was not entitled to summary judgment based on her insurer's failure to show prejudice from her failure to obtain its consent before settling with the tortfeasor's insurer for its policy limits; the policyholder had a statutory and contractual duty to obtain such consent, and her failure did not trigger the prejudice rules under statute or common law. Morse v. Erie Insurance Exchange, No. 0511, Sept. Term, 2013. Conversely, the insurer was entitled to summary judgment on an underinsured motorist claim where it was undisputed that insured failed to obtain her insurer's consent to settle for tortfeasor's policy limits, in violation of her own policy and applicable law; insurer was not required to show prejudice resulting from the lack of consent, and there was no genuine dispute of material fact as to whether insurer waived its rights. Woznicki v. Geico General Insurance Co., No. 532, Sept. Term, 2013. When you have been in an accident you want to be sure that you select an accident attorney who is familiar with the procedures. If you have questions regarding settling your accident case. Please feel free to call the accident attorney at 1-888-760-7339.

Your Accident Attorney Keith Bartnik

Auto Accidents in Maryland Personal Injury Cases

A Primer For Anyone Interested in Personal Injury in Maryland, by Keith Bartnik written for lawyers. In 27 years of practicing personal injury in Maryland here is a little of what I learned that may assist you in your understanding of accident cases. Every personal injury case starts with an issue of liability. Who is at fault? As an immediate aside, in Maryland you must be watchful for the defensive contributory negligence. I can assure you that the defendant's attorneys have no shortage of tricks up their sleeves to avoid parting with their employer’s money. Many defenses will be raised but contributory negligence is unique to Maryland and few other states. As such, it is important immediately at the time of the initial meeting between counsel and the plaintiff to lock in the facts on liability. It is most important to identify the defendant, by name, address, license tag number and particularly who his insurance carrier is and the policy number and claim number. Immediately after the initial meeting with your client, it is important to send letters of representation to the defendant insurance carrier as well as to your clients insurance carrier requesting personal injury protection forms and a declaration sheet. Also ask your client to recover his declaration sheet for his insurance policy. You want to look for personal injury protection insurance, car rental insurance, collision insurance, and underinsured motorist coverage. From this point forward, the case becomes a matter of damages and collecting information. Following sending the letters of representation to the defendant insurance carrier as well as the plaintiff's insurance carrier you want to secure evidence of any photographs of the accident scene and property damage and bruising on the plaintiff. It is important also to identify witnesses and get recorded statements as quickly as possible. Be sure you confirm the witnesses, home address, work address and next closest friend or relative in the event you cannot find them later. Immediately order the hospital records and bills with a records custodian certification. The custodian certification is important in the event the records will be needed at trial later. It saves a lot of time and effort and money to get the records with the certificate the first time the records are ordered. Typically, following a personal injury automobile accident case, the injured party will see an orthopedic doctor and/or be referred to an orthopedic doctor, followed by physical therapy. If symptoms are not resolved in a few weeks of treatment or if the initial symptoms are of such character a doctor will order an MRI to determine if surgery is appropriate. Typically I calendar 30 days after the initial date of treatment to send out a records request for the orthopedic, physical therapy, and any and all necessary diagnostic test. Additional initial task for the attorney revolve around property damage and car rental and processing the PIP application. Also, typically, a telephone call to the defendant insurance carrier for a quick conversation with the adjuster on the issue of liability will give you an early direction in the case. If liability is accepted you will instruct your client to take her vehicle to the repair facility of her choice and have the repair facility contact the defendant insurance carrier. In most cases the defendant insurance carrier will also examined the vehicle. You will be able to take that information as well to the repair facility of your choice. While your vehicle is being repaired, the defendant insurance carrier will provide a rental car until your car is available. In some instances your car maybe a total in which case fair market value will be offered and the rental car will extend generally three days after the offer for a full and final settlement of the property damage if made and if accepted. It is important to note at the initial meeting with your client those facts that may give rise to a workers compensation claim. If that should be the case. It is important to first process the personal injury protection claim, then process the workers compensation claim. By doing so you can take the advantage of the PIP coverage and less in the future workers compensation lien which will ultimately put more money in your client pocket. Lost wages are another element of damages that need to be documented and made part of your demand package. And you should start immediately processing that claim. The typical evidence includes a statement from a treating physician placing your client on off work status. That information should exist in the medical records or with an independent disability slip. It is important to gather those and stay on top of the disability claim. Also, with the PIP forms. You will typically have a lost wage authorization. If those are not available to you then draw up your own lost wage verification. This form will be completed by the employer, which will verify the hourly wage, those days missed from work following the accident and the total amount of lost wages. In the event your case does not settle, as you move forward to trial is important that evidence be developed to identify your client as a favorable person who is an innocent victim of another person's careless decisions and careless actions. It is important to establish the mechanism of injury. It is important to establish the chain of complaint of injury that followed impact, as well as the dollar cost to the client not only in lost wages, but including the cost of medical care. And for many people the impact on their lives not only their social activities but also their work lives. When examining settlement issues it is of paramount importance to identify any and all liens that may affect your client's bottom line recovery. The calculation typically for determining a distribution will have the gross settlement reduced by attorney’s fees and expenses, further reduced by medical liens, then you arrive at the client’s actually recovery. If we are to consider that all the medical bills are paid, and all the lost wages have been reimbursed then the remaining amount of money that the client receives from the distribution represents their recovery for pain and suffering. There are many personal-injury cases where the sole issues to be addressed revolve around property damage, lost wages, medical cost and pain and suffering during the period of rehabilitation. Other cases are far more involved only in that injuries may remain permanent, which leads to a claim for damages not only for permanency, but also potentially future medical costs, future lost wages, future loss of earning capacity and for some people a lifetime of pain and suffering. Take each case understating it is going to trial and always develop your case for trial. Start working on it right up front and see the entire case through from beginning to end. Before you even start. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me. 1-888-760-7339

Personal Injury Protection Workers Compensation and Third Party Claims

There are other circumstances where you are injured while driving your vehicle during the scope of your employment. In this instance the accident gives rise to three separate insurance claims as well as two actions. (For example the workers compensation claim as well as the third-party claim against the negligent driver) Specifically as to the insurance claims: the injured party is entitled to make a claim for personal injury protection benefits, workers compensation benefits as well as a recovery from the third-party who is at fault. However, there is a sequence of filings that you should properly adhered to to maximize your personal injury damages but also not to prejudice your entitlement to the various piles policies of insurance that are available to you. For example you should always file your personal injury protection claim first, followed by the workers compensation claim, followed by the third-party liability claim. This is true because in Maryland the personal injury protection carrier has no right up subrogation against third-party recovery. See Maryland Advocated Code Insurance Article 19-507 (d.). Conversely, Maryland law does recognize the right of the workers compensation carrier and their subrogation rights against third-party recovery. See Maryland Annotated Code Labor and Employment Article 9 -- 902 (e.) and (f). The net effect of filing in this manner allows the injured party to reap the benefits of personal injury protection coverage while avoiding a portion of the workers compensation lien. It is important when selecting a personal injury attorney that you put experience on your side. If you, your family members or friends have been injured and an accident in Maryland please feel free to call my office at 1-888-760-7339.

Septic Shock Due to Delayed Diagnosis

Was there a timely diagnosis and treatment for this patient’s septic shock? Should this patient have undergone an exploratory laparotomy surgery sooner? Sepsis needs to be treated as soon as possible for older patients who may have further co-morbidities. The patient would have benefited from earlier surgical intervention such as rapid exploration within a time period less than 4-6 hours. This case involves a sixty-seven year-old male patient who presented to the emergency room via ambulance with severe abdominal pain, hypotension and the appearance of being extremely ill. The patient had a past medical history of prior abdominal surgery eight weeks before the date of the presenting complaint for multiple hernia repairs. The hernia repairs were performed with no reports of complications and the patient was discharged without incident. On arrival at the emergency room a CT scan of the patient’s abdomen was which revealed a large ventral hernia with small and large bowel contained within the hernia sac. On physical examination of the surgical wound there was cellulitis in the anterior abdominal wall and inflammatory changes suggestive of peritonitis. The patient was admitted for dehydration and a suspected small bowel obstruction. The patient was transferred to the medical floors for intravenous fluid resuscitation and pain medication. It was not until more than thirty-six hours after admission that the patient was finally taken to the operating room for an exploratory laparotomy. By this time that patient’s condition had worsened drastically and he was severely unwell. During the procedure a perforation of the cecum was discovered and a colostomy was placed. The patient was started on Imipenem and Diflucan and transferred to the intensive care unit post-operatively. The patient was in a critical state following the surgery. He was not responding to pressor or fluid boluses. A ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ order (DNR) was obtained from the patient’s family and the patient died one day following the exploratory procedure. The cause of death was listed as small bowel perforation leading to septic shock and cardiopulmonary demise. If you, a family member or friend have been the victim of medical negligence. Please feel free to call my office for a free case evaluation. Find out what really happened, 1-888-760-7339.

Cancer Misdiagnosis

This case involves a forty-three-year-old female patient who originally presented to her primary care physician in 2005 with complaints of a newly discovered breast lump that was associated with pain in the area of the breast. Her physician advised her that it was likely not cancerous because it was painful and most likely a cystic formation. She underwent a mammography and biopsy that was consistent with a benign cyst. In 2011 the patient felt a new lump in the right breast that was in the area of the previous cyst that was removed. The mass continued to grow and an ultrasound performed in July of 2012 revealed the presence of a suspicious lesion. A biopsy of this new mass was consistent with a breast carcinoma. The patient then had a PET scan that showed a suspicious pelvic lesion and it was at that point she was offered chemotherapy which consisted of eight cycles of treatment with Adriamycin, Cyclophosphamide and Taxotere. The patient underwent a double mastectomy after completing the chemotherapy regimen, with no apparent lymph node evaluation done at this time. It was later determined after further investigation that the patient was positive for a BRCA mutation. Should the patient’s breast carcinoma have been discovered earlier? Should this patient have been followed more closely to prevent the development of her disease? Should this patient have been sent for BRCA testing sooner to plan for a targeted treatment regimen? Expert opinions find as follows: “This is certainly one of those unfortunate cases where a previously normal work-up may have delayed a diagnosis of a new problem, in this case breast cancer. From the information provided, it is unclear if there were any efforts made in 2011 to diagnose the new breast mass, or if the patient delayed an evaluation until the mass began to grow. If medical attention for the mass was sought in 2011, it would have been standard of care to perform imaging such as mammogram with or without ultrasound. Any abnormalities on mammogram would have triggered some type of biopsy, which would hopefully have identified an underlying malignancy. If the imaging were negative for suspected malignancy, more frequent follow-up with breast exams and repeated imaging would have been helpful to ensure that a malignancy was not developing.” Please feel free to call me whenever you have a question. Please feel free to refer me to your family, friends and relatives. I have offices in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Howard County, and Prince Georges County. I practice in the areas of personal injury and medical malpractice Please feel free to visit my website at yourMarylandLawyer.com For additional information.

Intubation Error During Cholecystectomy Found Negligent

“One of the main objectives for an anesthesiologist is to protect the patient’s airway. In a case involves a forty-four-year-old woman who was admitted to a hospital for a cholecystectomy. The woman had a history of smoking, and her vitals were normal, with a blood pressure of 124/82. She was properly prepped by both the surgeon and anesthesiologist, and was informed that she would be receiving Ketalar as her anesthetic. However, during intubation, the patient’s oxygen count began to slightly decline, and the anesthesiologist shifted the tube. The shift caused the patient’s oxygen’s level to decline further, and the endotracheal tube was removed approximately 45 seconds later. The operation was stopped, and the operating physician had the patient checked for any signs injury. It was determined that the trauma from the tube damaged the thyroid cartilage, causing a loss of oxygen and had a severely negative impact on the patient’s voice. The surgery was never completed, and the patient’s quality of life decreased substantially due to the damage on the vocal cords. The patient was a secretary, and was unable to return to work due to her loss of voice. Experts have opined, intubation is a commonly practiced technique, and the anesthesiologist failed to notice that something was wrong during the first attempt. It is a standard technique and one of the most vital. Various tools exist to ensure proper execution in a timely manner. By shifting the tube, he caused further damage to the patient, and put the patient at risk of complete lack of oxygen. Loss of oxygen can be damage many parts of the human body, with the brain being a high possibility. The patient was also at risk for neurological damage as well, which could cause an even further reduction in quality of life. The tube should have been removed sooner than 45 seconds after complications arose.” www.theexpertinstitute.com I you have questions regarding medical error please feel free to call my office. We can help you NOW. 1-888-760-7339