Maryland Lawsuits AgainstCarroll Hospital Center Inc

According to Maryland Judiciary Case Search, Carroll Hospital, entered with that exact spelling, has been sued for medical malpractice 25 times and for tort claims 1 time since 2012. The exact search criteria used on Maryland Judiciary Case Search is as follows:  Company: Carroll Hospital, Party Type: Defendant, Case Type: Civil, Court System: Circuit Court only, County: Default All, Filing Date: 9/26/2012-08/09/2020.

History of Carroll Hospital

Although Carroll County physicians had advocated for a hospital in the community as early as 1917, it wasn’t until the mid 1950’s that the idea gained widespread support. Finally, after an extensive campaign by doctors, business owners, and civic groups, construction began on Carroll County General Hospital. It opened in 1961 as a one floor, 50-bed facility. Since then it has expanded into a sprawling nonprofit institution with over 1,700 staff members, making it the second largest employer in Carroll County. The hospital gained national recognition during the 1990’s for its addition of an outpatient surgery center, a groundbreaking concept at the time.

After changing its name to Carroll Hospital in 2003, renovations and additions to the campus continued. A new, larger emergency department was added, and an inpatient hospice center called Dove House opened. Several primary, specialty, and pediatric care satellite offices also opened throughout Carroll County. In 2015, the hospital joined the LifeBridge Health, a healthcare system operating several acute care facilities and physician offices in the greater Baltimore region.

Carroll Hospital in the News

In June 2012, Jane Burkhart was admitted to Carroll Hospital for treatment related to diabetes and deep vein thrombosis in her leg. She was discharged with a prescription for blood thinners but returned to the emergency room two days later in severe pain. What followed was a critical dereliction of duty by hospital doctors that cost Burkhart her life, according to a lawsuit filed by her family members. The claim alleged that physicians addressed her pain but neglected to perform any diagnostic testing to find a root cause for her discomfort and identify possible complications from her leg thrombosis. Instead, she was discharged to a nursing home but returned again to Carroll Hospital the next morning in shock. Her condition steadily worsened, and she died six weeks later from a large blood vessel leak known as a hematoma.

Emily Malarkey of Bekman, Marder & Adkins argued before a Carroll County Circuit Court jury that the decision of Carroll Hospital doctors to discharge Burkhardt without any diagnostic testing directly contributed to her death. Their negligence in this case was particularly egregious, she claimed, since hematomas are a well-documented complication of thrombosis. She stressed that if Burkhart had been administered standard tests designed to locate side effects of her condition, her hematoma may have been discovered in time for lifesaving interventional measures. The jury agreed, awarding Burkhart’s family $575,000 after a six-day trial in January 2016.

Some of the major personal injury attorneys that regularly sue Carroll Hospital for medical malpractice are: Bekman, Marder & Adkins, Miller Murtha & Psoras LLC, and Treanor Pope & Hughes, P.A.  As the hospital is based in Carroll County, the majority of malpractice cases against it are filed in Carroll County Circuit Court, a jurisdiction that’s historically hostile to medical malpractice plaintiffs. However, a good attorney will be able to determine if your case has value and take it all the way to trial if necessary. If you or a loved one have been injured by Carroll Hospital, you should contact a personal injury lawyer to assess your claim.

Last updated August 13, 2020