You leave the hospital worse than when you arrived. A pharmacy dispenses the wrong medication. Your surgeon operates on the wrong leg. A radiologist misses a tumor visible on your scan. When something goes wrong during medical care, you're left wondering whether it was an unavoidable complication or a preventable mistake—and whether you need to speak with a Baltimore medical malpractice lawyer.
Medical errors happen more frequently than most people realize, and understanding what qualifies as an error is the first step toward determining whether you have grounds for a legal claim. Not every medical error rises to the level of malpractice, but knowing the difference helps you decide when to seek legal guidance and when to move forward without further action.
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Key Takeaways for Medical Errors in Maryland
- Medical errors are preventable adverse events that result from mistakes in planning or executing medical care, but not every error causes compensable harm or constitutes legal malpractice
- Maryland distinguishes between errors (deviations from intended care) and malpractice (errors that breach the standard of care and cause damages), meaning you need both negligence and provable harm to pursue a claim
- Common medical errors in Baltimore include diagnostic mistakes, medication mix-ups, surgical errors, patient misidentification, hospital-acquired infections, and preventable falls or pressure injuries
- For most medical malpractice cases, Maryland requires filing with HCADRO, supported by a timely Certificate of Qualified Expert, demonstrating that a provider's breach of the standard of care directly caused measurable damages
- If you suspect a medical error harmed you or a family member, gathering complete medical records, documenting symptoms and complications, and consulting a Baltimore medical malpractice attorney early protects your legal rights
Defining Medical Error: What Counts as a Mistake in Healthcare
The Institute of Medicine defines a medical error as "the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim." This definition encompasses two distinct categories:
- Errors of Execution: These occur when the correct plan exists, but something goes wrong during implementation. A surgeon performs the right procedure on the wrong patient. A nurse administers the correct medication but at the wrong dosage. The healthcare team knew what should happen but failed to execute properly.
- Errors of Planning: These involve using an incorrect approach from the start. A doctor chooses an inappropriate treatment for a diagnosed condition. A radiologist interprets imaging results incorrectly and recommends the wrong follow-up. The plan itself was flawed, even if executed perfectly.
Both categories share a critical characteristic: the harm was preventable. Medical errors differ from unavoidable complications, which occur despite appropriate care and proper execution.
When Does a Medical Error Become Malpractice?
Maryland law draws a crucial distinction between medical errors and medical malpractice. This difference determines whether you can pursue legal compensation. A medical error qualifies as malpractice when it meets four legal requirements:
- Breach of the Standard of Care: The healthcare provider's actions fell below what a reasonably competent provider in the same specialty would have done under similar circumstances. Maryland law defines this standard by comparing the defendant's conduct to accepted medical practices within their field.
- Causation: The provider's breach directly caused your injury. You must show a clear link between the error and the harm you suffered. If you would have experienced the same outcome even with proper care, causation may not exist.
- Damages: You suffered actual, measurable harm. This includes physical injuries, additional medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other quantifiable losses. Without damages, there's no basis for compensation even if an error occurred.
- Duty of Care: A doctor-patient relationship existed, establishing the provider's legal obligation to meet professional standards. This element is typically straightforward in most medical settings.
Without all four elements, even a clear medical mistake may not provide grounds for legal action under Maryland law.
Examples of Errors That May Not Constitute Malpractice
Understanding what doesn't qualify as malpractice helps clarify the boundaries of legal claims and prevents confusion when outcomes fall short of expectations.
- Near Misses: A pharmacist catches a dosage error before medication reaches the patient. A surgical team realizes they're preparing the wrong patient and stops before making an incision. These errors were prevented before causing harm, so no damages exist.
- Judgment Calls Within Accepted Practice: A physician chooses one acceptable treatment approach over another, and the chosen option proves less effective. As long as the decision fell within the range of acceptable medical judgment, it doesn't breach the standard of care even if a different approach might have worked better.
- Unavoidable Complications: All medical procedures carry inherent risks. A patient experiences a known complication despite proper technique and appropriate precautions. Bad outcomes alone don't equal malpractice.
- Disclosed Risks: A patient consents to surgery after being informed of specific risks, and one of those risks materializes despite proper care. However, Maryland recognizes claims based on lack of informed consent, and the fact that a risk was disclosed does not automatically rule out malpractice if the provider didn’t meet the standard of care and caused harm.
Distinguishing between actionable malpractice and unfortunate outcomes requires both medical expertise and legal analysis. A Baltimore medical malpractice attorney can help you understand whether an error rises to the level of malpractice and what you need to prove to recover compensation.
Common Types of Medical Errors in Baltimore Healthcare Settings
Baltimore's hospitals, surgical centers, clinics, and pharmacies see thousands of patients daily. Despite advanced medical capabilities at facilities such as Johns Hopkins Hospital, the University of Maryland Medical Center, and other institutions, preventable errors still occur across several categories.
Diagnostic Errors
Diagnostic mistakes represent one of the most common and harmful types of medical errors. Misdiagnosis occurs when a provider attributes symptoms to the wrong condition, leading to inappropriate treatment while the actual disease progresses—cancer misdiagnosed as a benign condition, heart attacks mistaken for indigestion, and strokes dismissed as migraines.
Delayed diagnosis means the correct diagnosis eventually happens, but critical time is lost. A radiologist misses a tumor on an initial scan, and months pass before another provider catches it. By then, the cancer has spread to stages that dramatically reduce survival rates.
Failure to diagnose leaves serious conditions completely undetected when symptoms are dismissed or not investigated adequately. Patients report concerning symptoms repeatedly, but providers attribute them to anxiety or stress without ordering appropriate diagnostic tests.
Medication Errors
Mistakes involving medications occur at multiple points in the treatment process. Prescribing errors include wrong medication, incorrect dosage, failure to check for dangerous drug interactions, or prescribing drugs contraindicated by patient allergies or existing conditions.
Dispensing errors happen when pharmacies fill prescriptions with the wrong medication, incorrect strength, or improper dosing instructions. Sound-alike drug names and look-alike packaging contribute to these mistakes.
Administration errors occur when nurses or other healthcare staff administer medications via the wrong route, at the wrong time, or to the wrong patient. IV medications given at improper rates can cause serious complications. Adverse drug events are preventable, harmful reactions resulting from medication errors, which differ from known side effects that occur even with proper prescribing and administration.
Surgical Errors
Operating rooms involve complex procedures where mistakes carry serious consequences. Wrong-site surgery means surgery performed on the wrong body part, wrong side, or wrong patient—despite standardized verification protocols, these events still occur with troubling frequency.
Retained foreign objects are surgical instruments, sponges, or other items left inside patients after procedures. These objects cause infections, pain, and additional surgeries for removal.
Anesthesia errors involving improper dosing, failure to monitor patients adequately, or using anesthesia contraindicated by patient history can cause brain damage, cardiac complications, or death. Damage to surrounding structures happens when surgeons inadvertently cut nerves, nick organs, or cause other injuries to tissues near the surgical site due to inattention, inadequate visualization, or technical mistakes.
Patient Misidentification
Healthcare facilities treat multiple patients simultaneously, creating opportunities for identity mix-ups. Administering treatment intended for one patient to another, performing procedures based on the wrong patient's records, or sending lab samples under incorrect names can all result from inadequate verification protocols.
Hospital-Acquired Infections
Infections that develop during hospitalization due to inadequate hygiene, poor wound care, or failure to follow sterile protocols qualify as preventable adverse events. Sepsis and septic shock are overwhelming infections that develop when initial infections go unrecognized or untreated. Sepsis can progress rapidly and cause organ failure and death.
Surgical site infections develop in incisions or body cavities where surgery occurred, often resulting from inadequate sterilization or post-operative care. Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are serious infections that develop when catheters inserted into large veins introduce bacteria into the bloodstream.
Preventable Falls and Pressure Injuries
Hospitalized and nursing home patients face risks that proper protocols can minimize. Patient falls cause fractures, head injuries, and other complications when staff fail to implement fall precautions for at-risk patients or ignore call lights.
Pressure ulcers (bedsores) are painful wounds that develop when immobile patients aren't repositioned regularly. Advanced pressure ulcers can reach bone and cause life-threatening infections.
Transfusion Errors
Unsafe blood transfusions occur when patients receive incompatible blood types or when blood products are administered incorrectly.
What to Do If You Suspect a Medical Error Harmed You
Taking specific steps after discovering a possible medical error protects both your health and your legal rights.
Address Immediate Health Needs
Seek treatment from a different provider if you're experiencing complications or worsening symptoms. Getting a second medical opinion may reveal errors in your original care and guide you toward appropriate treatment.
Gather Complete Documentation
Request copies of all medical records, test results, imaging studies, and provider notes. Save medication bottles, medical devices, discharge instructions, and billing statements. Document your symptoms, pain levels, and how the injury affects your daily activities in a detailed journal.
Limit Communication with Involved Providers
Avoid discussing your concerns directly with the healthcare provider or facility involved in your care. Statements made during these conversations may be used against you if you pursue a legal claim.
Consult a Baltimore Medical Malpractice Attorney
Medical error cases involve complex medical and legal issues. An experienced attorney can review your records, consult with medical experts to determine whether malpractice occurred, explain Maryland's procedural requirements, and advise whether pursuing a claim makes sense for your circumstances.
Contact our Baltimore office for a free consultation. We'll review your situation, answer your questions, and explain your options under Maryland law.
FAQ for What Qualifies as a Medical Error in Maryland
Can You Have a Medical Error without Patient Harm?
Yes. "Near misses" occur when errors are caught and corrected before reaching patients or before causing injury. These events concern patient safety experts, but don't create grounds for legal claims because no damages occurred.
What Proof Do You Need to Show a Medical Error Happened?
Strong evidence includes complete medical records documenting care decisions and actions, testimony from qualified medical experts who can identify departures from accepted standards, timelines showing when symptoms appeared and when providers took or failed to take specific actions, and documentation of damages such as medical bills, lost wages, and ongoing complications.
Do Maryland Malpractice Claims Have to Start in HCADRO?
Most Maryland medical malpractice claims seeking more than the District Court’s concurrent jurisdictional limit must be filed first with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office HCADRO; the parties may proceed through arbitration or waive arbitration and transfer the case to court.
Why Do Maryland Medical Malpractice Cases Require Expert Testimony?
Maryland medical malpractice cases typically require testimony from qualified medical experts to establish the standard of care, breach, and causation. These board-certified physicians review your records, compare the care you received against accepted medical practices, and determine whether errors occurred that a competent provider would have avoided. Expert testimony also establishes causation by explaining how appropriate care would have changed your outcome.
What Is Maryland’s Certificate of Qualified Expert Requirement?
Unless the sole issue is lack of informed consent, Maryland generally requires a claimant/plaintiff to file a Certificate of Qualified Expert within 90 days from the date of the HCADRO complaint. This certificate attests that a medical professional has reviewed your case and believes the defendant's care departed from accepted standards and caused your injuries. Limited exceptions exist, including informed-consent-only claims and certain circumstances that allow extensions.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Maryland?
Maryland law requires filing within the earlier of five years from when the injury was committed or three years from when the injury was discovered, and filing a claim with HCADRO counts as filing an action for limitations purposes; special rules apply to minors. Missing these deadlines typically bars your claim permanently, regardless of how clear the error might be.
Protecting Your Legal Rights After a Medical Error
Medical errors affect thousands of Maryland patients each year. Some cause minor inconveniences that are quickly corrected. Others result in permanent disabilities, prolonged suffering, or death. Knowing what constitutes a preventable mistake versus an unavoidable complication helps you decide when to seek legal guidance and when to accept that medicine involves inherent uncertainties.
If you suspect a medical error harmed you or a family member, gathering documentation early and consulting with a Baltimore personal injury attorney protects your legal options. Maryland's strict deadlines and procedural requirements mean delays can cost you the opportunity to pursue compensation.
Contact Furman | Honick Law’s Baltimore office for a free consultation. We'll review your medical records, explain whether your situation may constitute malpractice under Maryland law, and discuss your options moving forward.