Personal Injury Law

Maryland Family Files Medical Malpractice Complaint In Woman?s Blood Clot-Related Death

By Jack Lebowitz, Esq. and Vadim Mzhen, Esq.

In Maryland, the surviving family members of Nicole Letrice Smith,22, filed a medical malpractice complaint saying that the improper medical care that Smith received at Union Memorial Hospital following a 2006 car accident was the cause of her death. The complaint was filed with the state?s Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office and the family plans to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Smith was injured in a car accident when a Johns Hopkins pathologist driving the wrong way on the freeway hit her car. The family claims that improper treatment resulted in her death when a blood clot traveled from her broken leg to her lungs.

The claim says that her doctors should have notified Smith, who was obese, taking birth control pills at the time, and immobile because of her broken leg, that she was at risk for blood clots.

Named as defendants in the complaint are Union Memorial Hospital, Yuhwan Hong, and Lew Schon. Schon treated Smith when she was admitted to the hospital on July 8, 2006 and Hong treated her later before discharging her from the hospital. Three days after her release, Smith had a heart attack and died.

The driver of the motor vehicle that smashed into Smith?s car, Dr. Todd B. Sheridan, pleaded guilty to DUI and automobile manslaughter. He will be sentenced in April.

It is up to your doctor to warn you of any potential side effects that can result from your treatment or care. If failure to do so results in injury or death, you should talk to a medical malpractice attorney about filing a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit.

In order to receive medical malpractice compensation, you must file your claim or lawsuit before the statute of limitations ends. In Maryland, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice action is five years from the time the incident occurred or three years from when medical malpractice as the cause of injury or death is discovered. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims and lawsuits in Washington D.C. is three years.

If you or someone you love is the victim of medical malpractice in Washington D.C. or Maryland, you should contact a medical malpractice law firm immediately.

Family files malpractice complaint against hospital, Baltimore Sun, January 17, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Medical Malpractice Overview, Wrong Diagnosis, January 17, 2008

Medical Malpractice, Statute of Limitations

Full post as published by Maryland Accident Law Blog on January 17, 2008 (boomark / email).