Attorney Julia Arfaa
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Physician burnout puts patient safety at risk and leads to potentially devastating errors. If you have been injured because of medical negligence that you believe was caused due to physician burnout, our Baltimore medical injury attorneys can help you learn more about your rights and options. With extensive experience in Maryland malpractice law, we understand how to investigate complex medical injury claims and protect your rights based on the facts.

Sadly, burnout is common for doctors. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion characterized by excessive and prolonged stress. It happens when a doctor is overwhelmed and unable to meet demands. which can lead to feelings of cynicism, worry and doubt. Physicians across the United States deal with symptoms of burnout at almost twice the rate of other workers, often pointing to reasons such as long hours, concerns about being sued, and dealing with workplace bureaucracy like filling out time-consuming electronic medical records.

While we know that doctor burnout is bad for both the physician and his or her patients, it is also extremely expensive. A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that doctor burnout costs the US healthcare system approximately $4.6 billion a year. To draw this conclusion, researchers analyzed information such as recent reports and research – including direct or inferred findings on physicians cutting back on hours or quitting as a result of burnout. A mathematical model was then used to estimate the cost of burnout, focusing on the price tag of replacing doctors and lost wages from vacant positions.

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Unfortunately, patients are sometimes given too much of the medication they need. If you have been injured or lost a loved one due to a medication overdose caused by a medical professional’s negligence, you may be entitled to monetary damages. Our skilled Baltimore medical injury attorneys are well versed in handling complex cases involving overdoses and can apply our experience to your case.

An Ohio doctor has been accused of ordering excessive and potentially deadly doses of opioids to dozens of near-death patients. He is now is facing multiple counts of murder. Specifically, the doctor was charged in 25 deaths after an investigation, which lasted half a year, by the local prosecutor’s office. The fatalities uncovered an outrageous case of medical oversight and medical malpractice, shedding light on ongoing failures by tens of employees.  The deaths in the case occurred between 2015 and 2018. Most of the doctor’s victims were older and already seriously ill, but some were younger patients visiting the hospital for less severe health conditions who were ultimately given much more fentanyl than they needed. The motive for the doctor’s behavior is still unclear and he has pled not guilty. While this is an Ohio case, the sad reality is that medication errors affect Maryland patients as well.

Medication overdoses can happen for a number of reasons, including:

  • Wrong prescriptions – an overdose can be the result of a doctor or nurse practitioner writing a prescription that is too high in dosage or instructs the patient to take the medication too often.
  • Pharmacy mistakes – if a pharmacy fills the prescription with the wrong dose of medication or the wrong medication altogether, a patient could inadvertently overdose.
  • Incorrect administration – if you were hospitalized or in a healthcare facility where the nurses or doctors were administering the medication to you directly then an error on their part (i.e., giving too much medication, giving the wrong medication, giving the medication too frequently, etc.) could result in an overdose.

Prescription pain medication must be prescribed and managed carefully or patients can overdose. Physicians who are negligent in prescribing or administering pain medication may be liable for medical malpractice. Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional fails to act in the way that a reasonably prudent medical professional in the same speciality would have acted under the same or similar circumstances, thereby injuring the patient. To establish malpractice, it must be shown that a medical professional’s conduct deviated from the appropriate standard of care and that the deviation was a direct and proximate cause of the patient’s harm.
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You may be shocked to learn that medical malpractice is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. Medical errors are also the cause of countless patient injuries in Maryland and across the country. Often, these injuries and deaths are entirely preventable. If you have suffered harm caused by a doctor’s mistake, we can assist you in figuring out your legal options. As experienced Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers, we will tirelessly fight for your right to compensation.

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that doctors with poor medical malpractice track records may be an increased hazard to patient welfare. The research revealed that out of 480,000 health care providers in the U.S., just 2.3 percent of doctors were responsible for almost 39 percent of paid medical malpractice claims between the years of 2003 and 2015. In other words, a small number of physicians are responsible for a disproportionately high number of medical malpractice claims.

In addition, the study found that physicians with numerous medical malpractice claims are more likely to move into smaller practices. For instance, doctors with five or more claims were more than twice as likely to go into solo practice than doctors with no claims. Smaller practices tend to have less oversight than larger ones. This is especially problematic because employers, rather than patients, are the ones who typically vet a physician’s medical record when they are hiring. As a result, patients just walk into these smaller practices, completely unaware of the physician’s subpar safety record.

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Deciding to put someone you love in a nursing home is a difficult decision, but you do it with the expectation that your family member will be taken care of. Sadly, this is not always the case. Abuse and neglect are common at far too many nursing homes. If your loved one has suffered harm due to a nursing home’s negligence, you need to consult an experienced Baltimore medical malpractice attorney who can help pinpoint what happened and figure out how to proceed.

A man recently filed a claim against a South Carolina nursing home claiming that his brother died due to improper care. Sadly, this type of thing happens in Maryland as well. According to the complaint, the man’s brother had been living at the nursing home since 2015 and was subject to ongoing neglect and dangerous conditions throughout his time there. The suit claims that the patient suffered a number of injuries including severe pressure sores, ulcers and skin breakdown because of substandard care, which ultimately delayed his chemotherapy treatment for pinoblastoma. The lawsuit is one of many wrongful death and medical malpractice claims that have been filed against the nursing home over the past few years.

Since nursing homes normally offer medical care to residents, medical malpractice claims may come up in nursing home settings. In Maryland, medical malpractice is any act or omission by a physician during treatment of a patient that departs from the standard norms of practice in the medical community and causes injury to the patient. In the context of a nursing home, medical malpractice takes place when the facility breaches the duty of care owed to the patient, resulting in harm to that patient. For example, allowing a resident to develop bedsores would be an example of nursing home negligence because a facility providing proper care would understand what precautions need to be taken in order to prevent bedsores in the first place. It is important to note that medical malpractice can also take place if the nursing home did not act when there was a duty to do so.
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If you or your loved one has suffered harm because of a medical professional’s failure to diagnose or treat a condition properly, you may be able to recover financial compensation. At Arfaa Law Group, our diligent and hard-working Baltimore medical injury attorneys understand the intricacies of Maryland medical malpractice laws and can apply our knowledge to your case.

A California hospital recently agreed to pay a woman nearly $4 million to settle a medical malpractice claim that was filed by the family of a woman who has been in a coma since 2015, when she went into cardiac arrest in an emergency room waiting area after being discharged. According to the complaint, the woman’s family claimed that hospital staff overlooked signs that the woman was experiencing heart failure when she came to the emergency room with difficulty breathing and a known medical history of diabetes and kidney failure. In fact, the emergency staff allegedly gave the woman a narcotic and released her. She was in the hospital waiting room when she collapsed from suffering diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening complication of diabetes, which can be triggered by a heart attack.

All medical professionals have an obligation to provide patients with competent care. In Maryland, medical malpractice occurs when a patient suffers injury, harm or death as the result of a medical professional’s neglect, omission or error in judgment. In order to establish medical malpractice, the patient has the burden to show that the medical professional violated the accepted standard of care, and that this violation was a direct and proximate cause of the injury. The standard of care refers to the level of care that a prudent medical professional in the same specialty would have used under the same or similar circumstances. In the aforementioned case, the plaintiffs alleged that the medical professionals violated the standard of care when instead of providing the patient with the necessary screening tests, they gave her narcotic pain medications, which further suppressed her respiratory system and discharged her from the hospital.
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Medical malpractice can lead to lasting injuries that can affect both a patient and his or her entire family. If you have been injured by the negligence of a medical professional, you may be able to recover compensation for your harm. At Arfaa Law Group, our diligent Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys understand that medical malpractice outcomes are contingent on a number of factors. We want you to focus on your recovery while we focus on the legalities of your case.

A woman in New York recently won over $100 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital and several doctors over their care of a 2010 asthma attack that she suffered, leading to a massive brain injury. The hospital apparently failed to transfer the patient to a different hospital after being unable to care for her properly when she suffered swelling on the brain caused by carbon dioxide. The woman’s lawyer argued that the hospital breached the duty of care owed to the patient by failing to transfer her to a nearby facility that had the technology to remove the excessive carbon dioxide in her brain in order to prevent an injury. The incident left the woman hospitalized and in a nursing home for over a year. In fact, the patient still suffers from crippling, speech and mobility issues and is now limited to a wheelchair needing full time care, which is provided by her partner.

Generally, medical malpractice includes any type of medical negligence that takes place in a medical facility, including mistakes by physicians, nurses, technicians and other staff. Medical negligence is a broad term used to describe any treatment, lack of treatment, or any other departure from the accepted standard of care. The standard of care refers to the level of care and caution that a reasonably prudent medical professional in the same specialty would have used in the same or similar circumstances. In order to win a negligence claim, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant medical professional violated the standard of care and this violation was a direct result of the patient’s injury.
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While people in every profession make mistakes from time to time, when a medical professional makes an error, it can cost a patient his or her life. If you have been injured or lost a loved one due to a healthcare provider’s negligence, our experienced Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys can help you figure out your next steps. At Arfaa Law Group, we understand how to navigate these complex claims.

A Maryland high court recently barred a car crash victim from pursuing a medical malpractice claim after discovering that she had been fully compensated for all of her injuries by the auto insurance company. The facts of the case are as follows. A woman sustained serious injuries in a car accident. She underwent surgery and developed a post-operative infection, which was resistant to treatment. Ultimately, a doctor treated her infection with antibiotics intravenously and ended up accidentally puncturing an artery during the procedure. As a result, the woman suffers from a condition that causes chronic pain, numbness and disability in her left arm.

In regards to the car crash, the woman sued the driver of the other car for negligence. She obtained a settlement from the negligent driver and the owner of the vehicle, as well as from her uninsured/underinsured motorist carrier.

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Medical professionals have an obligation to provide competent care to each and every patient. Sadly, this does not always happen. If you have been injured by a medical professional’s negligence, our diligent and hard-working Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys can help you hold the at-fault party accountable. We will investigate the facts of your case and try our best to get you the compensation you deserve.

A new study published in the Stanford Law Review found that laws passed in 39 states over the last twenty years, which were intended to decrease medical malpractice litigation by protecting physicians who apologized for their errors, are not working. The aforementioned laws were passed based on case studies indicating that apologies from physicians to patients could promote healing and encourage patients to settle their claims outside of court. However, new research shows that when a patient is made aware that his or her doctor committed a medical error, the patient’s incentive to sue can actually increase even though the apology itself cannot be used as evidence of malpractice under the apology laws.

For surgeons, the research found that saying sorry did not impact either the number of lawsuits that were filed or the percentage of lawsuits filed that actually went to trial. For non-surgeons, on the other hand, laws requiring an apology had a worse effect. In fact, claims in states with apology law were 46 percent more prone to end up in a lawsuit. The monetary awards to patients of non-surgeons more than doubled in states with apology laws when compared to states without such laws.

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Pathologists are doctors who study the cause and development of disease. These medical professionals play a vital role in a patient’s care. In fact, treatment decisions are often made solely on the opinion of a pathologist. If you have been hurt due to a pathologist’s error, you may be qualified to recover damages for your harm through a medical malpractice lawsuit. At Arfaa Law Group, our diligent Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers are committed to investigating your case and helping you figure out your next steps.

An Iowa man recently won a medical malpractice case for undergoing debilitating prostate cancer surgery and then learned that he did not have cancer. Apparently, a pathologist mixed up slides of the plaintiff with another man who, in fact, did have prostate cancer. The error led to an incorrect diagnosis, and ultimately unnecessary prostate gland removal surgery in April 2017. The procedure was not only painful; it seriously damaged nearby nerves and left the plaintiff impotent and incontinent. His quality of life has been severely affected due to both of these conditions. While the hospital admitted that unnecessary surgery had taken place, the main issue at trial was over the question of damages. Ultimately, the plaintiff was awarded $12.25 million.

While this is an Iowa case, the sad reality is that pathology errors leading to devastating consequences happen everywhere and Maryland is no exception. Pathologists study and diagnose diseases through examining surgically removed organs, tissues (biopsy samples), bodily fluids, and in some cases the entire body (autopsy). This is done through examining tissue samples and cells in body fluids under the microscope and making a determination based on those observations. A pathologist error could have one of two consequences: it could lead to a delay in treatment or lead to unnecessary treatment. The latter is what happened in the aforementioned Iowa case. The pathologist correctly identified prostate cancer based on the slide but mixed up patient files, which led to diagnosing the wrong patient.

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Medical malpractice can lead to catastrophic injuries that can impact the rest of your life. If you have been seriously harmed because of what you believe to be medical malpractice, you may be eligible to recover damages for your harm. At Arfaa Law Group, our skilled Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys are committed to representing victims of medical negligence across Maryland.

A study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that doctors are more likely to open solo practices or quit practicing medicine altogether after facing multiple medical malpractice claims. The researchers found that either one of these responses are more likely than the doctor moving far away to find work and “start fresh.” The study examined a national group of 480,894 physicians in the age range of 35 to 65 who practiced from 2007 to 2015. A total of 89 percent of the doctors had no claims, 8.8 percent had 1 claim and the remaining 2.3 percent had 2 or more claims, which accounted for 38.9 percent of all claims.

According to the findings, more than 9 out of 10 doctors who have five or more successful malpractice claims against them continue to see patients and are in no rush to move far away from where the malpractice occurred. In addition, doctors who have multiple malpractice claims on their record are 45 percent more likely to give up and try another profession than those who have spotless records. In sum, doctors with multiple malpractice claims are no more likely to relocate than those with no claims but they are more likely to give up practicing medicine altogether.

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