Medical Malpractice
Background
Frederick Memorial Hospital is part of the Frederick Regional Health System and is located in Frederick County, Maryland. The Frederick Regional Health System partners with Monocacy Health to offer primary care and family medicine services and has almost 2,700 employees.
Frederick Memorial Hospital has 233 beds and has a separate Pediatric Emergency Center. Each year, the Emergency Department cares for more than 65,000 patients. The facility has more than 50 private rooms and offers the following emergency services: emergent care, elective angioplasty, orthopedics, behavioral health, respiratory, and cardiac care.
The entire Frederick Regional Health System offers the following services:
- Behavioral health
- Cancer
- Cardiology
- Childbirth (including birthing suite and neonatal intensive care unit)
- Diabetes
- Emergency and immediate care
- Endocrine
- Family practice
- Forensic nursing
- Hospice and home health
- Imaging
- Internal medicine
- Neurosciences
- Occupational health, nutrition, and weight
- Orthopedics
- Pain and support care
- Pediatrics
- Pulmonary
- Rehabilitation therapy
- Sleep studies
- Surgery
- Urology
- Women’s health
- Wound care
The surgeries performed at Frederick Memorial Hospital include appendix, gallbladder, hernia repair, port placement, gastrointestinal, colon/rectum, breast, endocrine, removal of masses, drainage of abscesses, and hemorrhoid removal.
The hospital also has an Auxiliary Prenatal Center that provides prenatal care to the pregnant woman. (Our firm is investigating a birth injury case now involving FMH Auxilary Prenatal Center.)
Frederick Memorial Hospital has earned many awards and recognition. The hospital is a certified member of the MD Anderson Cancer Network, and the Center for Breast Care is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Cancer Magazine named Frederick’s Cancer Therapy Center as one of the Top 100 Cancer Centers in the United States. This is a great place to get cancer treatment. One of our lawyers was treated for cancer at this hospital and is eternally grateful — eternally — for the care received at Frederick Memorial.
Additionally, the hospital is a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence and America’s 100 Best for Coronary Intervention. The Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Service Systems has designated the hospital as a Primary Stroke Center. Frederick Memorial is certified in Cardiac Rehabilitation and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.
In sum, this is a very good hospital. Are medical malpractice mistakes made at Frederick Memorial that causes people serious injury and death? This is a different question from whether this is a good hospital. The reality is that, like every hospital, awful mistakes are made that often result in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Frederick Memorial Hospital – Legal Defense Team
Lawyers at Anderson, Coe & King as well as attorneys at Kramon & Graham, P.A. have defended Frederick Memorial Hospital in medical malpractice claims.
Frederick Memorial’s emergency room has been run by Emergency Physician Associates since 1979. which handles the ER for many area hospitals. Lawsuits involving emergency room care are usually against this group.
Verdicts & Settlements Involving Frederick Memorial Hospital
Below are some past verdicts and settlements involving Frederick Memorial Hospital. These outcomes are based on particular facts in each case, so remember that the outcomes for each case will vary widely.
- 2015, Maryland: $435,000 Verdict. A 41-year-old woman goes to the ER at Frederick Memorial Hospital complaining of jaw and head pain due to an abscessed tooth. An IV is placed into a vein in her dominant hand to start medications. She tells the technician she feels a burning pain. The technician tells her that the stinging will stop after the IV was started. She continues the infusion after the plaintiff tells her the pain continued. After the infusion, there is a blister at the IV site. The doctor’s records do not note any of the complications. There are records that she returned to the ER the following day with pain, swelling, and bruising at the IV site. The woman also claims that complications arose after and she had to go to a neurologist, who diagnosed her with complex regional pain syndrome in her hand. A jury awarded the woman $100,000 in past medical cost, $165,000 in future medical cost, and $170,000 for pain and suffering.
- 2011, Maryland: $1,225,000 Verdict. A 22-year-old woman has a chest x-ray done. The x-ray is interpreted as a diagnosis of upper left lobe pneumonia. During a later appointment, the diagnosis changes to cancer in the woman’s left lung. Her estate files a medical malpractice wrongful death claim against the doctor and hospital, and a jury awards her estate $1,225,000.
- 2009, Maryland: $3,991,000 Verdict. This is a classic birth injury case where a woman comes to the hospital with an obstetrical emergency and it is treated as anything but an emergency. A woman who is eight months pregnant goes to Frederick Memorial Hospital Emergency Room with epigastric pain, vomiting, and yellow diarrhea. A nurse evaluates her, attempts a fetal heart tracing, and the on-call emergency physician orders blood work. The woman is given Demerol and Phenergan, and the physician consults with the on-call obstetrician. A nurse is unable to obtain a fetal heart rate. She calls in the emergency physician who fails to detect a fetal heart rate as well. The obstetrician arrives and takes the woman to labor and delivery, performs a cesarean section, and the newborn shows signs of hypoxia. The baby is resuscitated. He is later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The woman and her husband file a claim against the doctors, the ER group (Emergency Physicians Associates) the OBGYN Center, and Frederick Memorial, arguing that they failed to monitor and treat the woman, resulting in their son’s permanent neurological deficits. Frederick Memorial was dismissed from the case due to plaintiff’s failure to comply with the rules about qualified experts, but a jury awarded the plaintiffs $3,991,000 against the doctors and the OBGYN Center. On one level, this is an impressive verdict that many heralded as Frederick coming of age as a jury that is fair to victims. But $4 million is not a lot of money in a cerebral palsy case in which the child will need ongoing medical care for the rest of his life.
- 2008, Maryland: $215,000 Verdict. An adult male is on dialysis and has end-stage renal disease. He is under the care of defendant doctors at Frederick Memorial Hospital for two days before he dies. His estate brings a claim, alleging that the doctors failed to properly diagnose and treat the man’s elevated serum potassium and that there was a delayed reporting of his lab results. His family argues that if the man had not died that day, he would have received a kidney transplant soon and would have lived a normal life. The hospital denied any negligence, but a jury found that the doctors and the hospital were negligent and that their negligence was the reason for the man’s death. His estate was awarded $5,000 for funeral expenses and his wife was awarded $210,000 for loss of future support.
- 2006, Maryland: $430,000 Verdict. An 82-year-old woman is a patient at Frederick Memorial Hospital after being admitted for delirium and IV hydration when she falls three stories out of a window and dies. Her estate argues that the hospital premises were not safe and that the windows sho
uld have been locked. The defendants deny liability, but a jury awards the plaintiff $430,000. - 2001, Maryland: $750,000 Verdict. A 38-year-old woman goes to Frederick Memorial Hospital for childbirth. She is given Prostin E2 to accelerate her labor, and defendant OB/GYN intermittently monitors her fetal well-being. After a few hours, fetal monitoring is stopped so she can shower to help control her pain. After 73 minutes, defendant OB/GYN discovers the fetal heart rate has dropped significantly, and an emergency C-section is performed. The baby has no heartbeat, and resuscitation attempts fail. The woman alleges that the defendants failed to appreciate signs of fetal distress, she had a high-risk pregnancy so fetal monitoring should have been more consistent, and the Prostin administration led to the fetal distress. The defendants argue that there were no abnormal findings and that the care was appropriate. A jury awards the woman $750,000.
Cases Against Frederick Memorial Hospital
Below is a list of cases filed against Frederick Memorial Hospital, along with the allegations made when available.
- § 2019: Lambert v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
§ 2016: Hunt v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice- § 2016: Bedard v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice claim alleging the misdiagnosis of sepsis resulting in amputation
- § 2016: Walton v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2016: Brown v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2016: Krasovski v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2015: Castano v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case arising from an epidural hematoma resulting in incomplete paraplegia
- § 2015: Smith v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2015: Krawetzki v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2015: Fazzie v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case arguing breach of care and failure to timely and carefully diagnose plaintiff
- § 2015: Klosterman v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2015: Bennett v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2015: Imwold v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2014: Mills v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2014: Bryers v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case arguing complications during a hysterectomy
- § 2014: Bedard v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2014: Moore v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2014: Heavner v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2014: Sill v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2014: Shane v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2013: Faul v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case alleging the plaintiff was diagnosed with cellulitis in the ER but later diagnosed with a fracture of the ankle but left unhealed resulting in amputation
- § 2013: Castano v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2013: Moore v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case regarding misdiagnosis of cancer
- § 2013: Johnson v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2013: Main v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2013: Howard v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice claim after plaintiff had surgery and a foreign body was left inside plaintiff
- § 2012: Wildberger v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case alleging a delay in diagnosis of ovarian cancer after a woman goes to the ER with abdominal pain
- § 2012: Faul v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2012: Pittman v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice claim arising after an alleged delay in removing patient’s shunt after infection resulting in headaches, nausea, and vomiting
- § 2012: Johnson v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case after defendants failed to provide proper treatment resulting in paralysis
- § 2012: Davison v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case after a patient had a laparoscopic cholecystectomy
- § 2012: Sickeri v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2012: Jimenez v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2012: Roberts v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice case alleging the ER doctor misdiagnosed a retina detachment which led to a loss of vision
- § 2012: King v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice claim after the patient has a chest x-ray and supplemental views done, leading to lung cancer
- § 2012: Howard v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2011: Filigenzi v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice wrongful death case after an alleged fetal death due to meconium aspiration
- § 2011: Wildberger v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2011: Schlesinger v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice claim after a man presents to the ER and argues they failed to perform the appropriate tests
- § 2011: Raboteau v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice claim alleging brain damage due to labor and delivery and improper resuscitation efforts
- § 2011: Litchfield v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2011: Pittman v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice
- § 2010: Trott v. Frederick Memorial Hospital – medical malpractice claim after a woman goes to ER, is diagnosed with aseptic meningitis and discharged, and later re-admitted with herpes encephalitis
- § Wantz v. Frederick Memorial – failure to comply with the standards of care in connection with the reading and interpretation of CT angiogram of the chest with IV contrast
Obtaining a Lawyer for Your Hospital Malpractice Claim
If you or someone you know was treated at Frederick Memorial Hospital and have been seriously injured, please contact Miller and Zois today at 800-553-8082. You can also go online for a free consultation. We have a long history of large verdicts and settlements in hospital malpractice cases throughout Maryland.
More Information & Related Topics
- An overview of medical malpractice claims
- Information about Frederick County
- What is the potential value of a medical malpractice case?
- Read about a Frederick County medical malpractice case filed in 2016
- Value of emergency room malpractice claims