Personal Injury Law

$1.44 Million Baltimore County Medical Malpractice Verdict Over Man Who Died From Sepsis at a Towson Hospital

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

A Maryland jury has awarded the family of Thomas Murphy $1.44 million for his Baltimore County wrongful death. Murphy died of sepsis on June 11, 2007, one day after he was admitted to St. Joseph Medical Center.

Murphy?s family is alleging Maryland medical malpractice. They claim that the 59-year-old did not receive the proper medical care.

According to ABC-2.com, despite having Murphy undergo several tests, including a CAT scan and an X-ray, doctors did not diagnose him as suffering from sepsis. Instead, Dr. Richard Murphy, one of the defendants, thought the patient was suffering from an infection and prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic before admitting him to the hospital.

Other wrongful death defendants in this case include the hospital and two other doctors.

St. Joseph?s has recently come under fire over heart stents that may have been unnecessarily implanted in hundreds of people. More than 530 patients may have been affected.

A number of patients have come forward complaining that Dr. Mark Midei told them they had coronary blockages that were severe when the blockages actually were either too minor to require the insertion of a permanent stent or didn?t even exist. A number of Baltimore County medical malpractice lawsuits have already been filed over these mistakes.

Wrong Diagnosis
Incorrect diagnosis of a patient?s health issue can cause a complications, infections, or death, and may result in unnecessary surgeries, implants, or other invasive medical procedures. If you are the victim of delayed diagnosis, failure to diagnose, or wrong diagnosis, you may have grounds for filing a Maryland medical malpractice case.

$1.44 Million Awarded in Sepsis Death Case, ABC2, March 31, 2010

Jury awards $1.44 million to family of patient who died of sepsis at St. Joseph, Baltimore Sun, March 31, 2010

Maryland Medical Malpractice?: 369 Patients May Have Received Unnecessary Stents, Maryland Accident Law Blog, January 18, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Wrong Diagnosis

Sepsis, National Institutes of Health

Full post as published by Maryland Accident Law Blog on April 13, 2010 (boomark / email).