Sample Hospital Medical Malpractice Complaint

Below is an example of a medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital.

One question that arises in these cases is whether you should name just the hospital or also name the individual doctors and nurses. If you can get an agreement upfront that the doctors or nurses will be treated as defendants for all other purposes, not naming the health care providers’ can be a rare win-win in litigation where both parties benefit. The hospitals want to keep their health care providers names out of the lawsuit for obvious reasons. From the plaintiff’s lawyer’s perspective, the jury may find it easier to swallow finding fault against the hospital than against a sympathetic doctor or nurse.

In this video, we get a little deeper into the weeds of the differences between regular malpractice cases and malpractice claims with a hospital defendant.

CYNTHIA MONROE

v.
JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL.

CASE NO.:

SAMPLE HOSPITAL NEGLIGENCE COMPLAINT

Cynthia Monroe, by her attorneys, Ronald V. Miller, Jr., Rodney M. Gaston, and Miller & Zois, LLC, and brings this lawsuit against the Defendant Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. In support of these allegations, Plaintiff states:

FACTS

1. That the Plaintiff is a resident of Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
2. That Defendant Johns Hopkins Hospital is a Maryland Corporation providing medical services to the citizens of Baltimore and has its principal place of business located in Baltimore City, Maryland.
3. That Defendant Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, Inc. is a Maryland Corporation providing medical care to the citizens of the State of Maryland with its principal place of business located at 3100 Wyman Park Drive in Baltimore City, Maryland and is wholly owned by Defendant Johns Hopkins Hospital.
4. That all remaining defendants are medical providers providing medical services in Maryland and at the time of the alleged medical malpractice were all employees/agents/servants of Defendants Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Community Physician’s Inc. and were acting within the scope of that employment/agency/servant relationship when they failed to follow the applicable standard of medical care during their treatment of the Plaintiff on or about May 29, 2022, and thereafter, at 1132 Odenton Road, Odenton, MD, which proximately resulted in a physical injury to the Plaintiff.
5. That the amount sought in this suit exceeds the jurisdiction limit of the District Court of Maryland. The venue that is the most appropriate venue in Baltimore City, Maryland as Defendants Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Physicians Inc. maintain their principal place of business in Baltimore City, Maryland.
6. That these medical mistakes occurred on March 26, 2022, and after that, in the State of Maryland.
7. That on or about March 26, 2022 the Plaintiff underwent a CT scan of her abdomen, as recommended by the Defendants, which revealed the presence of two ovarian cysts.
8. That following the Plaintiff’s CT scan, the Defendants never informed the Plaintiff of the results of the CT scan, never informed the Plaintiff of the presence of the two ovarian cysts, never recommended that the Plaintiff have a follow-up sonogram, and never recommended that the Plaintiff have an OB/GYN consultation.
9. That the standard of medical care applicable to the Defendants after receiving the CT scan that revealed the presence of two ovarian cysts in the Plaintiff’s body was to inform the Plaintiff of the presence of the cysts, to refer the Plaintiff for a sonogram, and to refer the Plaintiff for an OB/GYN consultation.
10. As a direct result of the Defendants breaching the applicable standard of medical care owed to the Plaintiff by failing to inform the Plaintiff of the results of the CT scan which revealed the presence of the ovarian cysts, by failing to recommend that the Plaintiff have a follow-up sonogram, and by failing to refer the Plaintiff for an OB/GYN consultation, the Plaintiff suffered a physical injury to her body.
11. That on May 29, 2022, and thereafter, Defendant Mary Carty, a physician’s assistant, was required to be supervised by a licensed medical doctor during the occasions that she was providing medical care, treatment, and advice to the Plaintiff, and at all times that she provided medical care, treatment, and advice to the Plaintiff, she was under the direct supervision of Defendants Sidney McEnroe, M.D., David L. Fitzgerald, Jr., M.D., and Carol Chapman, M.D.

12. That Defendants Sidney McEnroe, M.D., David L. Fitzgerald, Jr., M.D., and Carol Chapman, M.D., all medical doctors, under the applicable standard of medical care owed a duty to the Plaintiff to supervise the medical care that Mary Carty, a physician’s assistant, was providing to the Plaintiff. The defendant medical doctors breached this duty and standard of care by failing to adequately supervise Mary Simpson. This resulted in the failure to inform the Plaintiff of the presence of the ovarian cysts as revealed by the CT scan, the failure to recommend that the Plaintiff have a follow-up sonogram, and the failure to refer the Plaintiff for an OB/GYN consultation. As a direct and proximate result of these failures, the Plaintiff suffered a physical injury to her body. All of these failures amounted to a breach of the applicable standard of medical care.
13. That as a direct and proximate result of the breach of the applicable standard of medical care by the Defendants, the Plaintiff has suffered harm. These harms include: 1) suffered conscious pain and suffering both in the past and, it is expected by her physicians, the future, 2) incurred medical expenses in the past and will incur future medical expenses, 3) suffered mental and emotional sorrow and anguish, 4) suffered permanent physical injuries (enlargement of the ovarian cysts and a total hysterectomy) and disfigurement, and 5) was required to undergo additional medical procedures and has sustained other damages.
14. That all of the injuries and damages sustained by the Plaintiff were the direct and proximate result of th
    e negligent actions and breaches of the applicable standards of medical care by all of the Defendants without any act or omission on the part of the Plaintiff directly thereunto contributing.
15. That the Plaintiff did not assume the risk of her injuries.
16. Plaintiff incorporates by reference herein the entire copy of the claim that she filed with the Health Claims Alternative Dispute Resolution Office on March 8, 2023 as Exhibit 1 which includes her Certificate of Qualified Expert from Dr. Kevin Phillips, M.D., Expert Report from Dr. Kevin Phillips, M.D., Certificate of Qualified Expert from Rochelle Ripple, RPA-C, and Expert Report from Rochelle Ripple, RPA-C, which further delineates the breaches of the applicable standards of medical care owed to the Plaintiff by all of the Defendants, which proximately caused a physical injury to the Plaintiff. Also attached as Exhibit 2 is the Order of Transfer executed by Harry Chase, the Director of the Health Claims Alternative Dispute Resolution Office, directing that the claim be transferred to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Plaintiff has complied with all of the statutory preconditions to filing this medical malpractice claim.

COUNT I: Negligence – Medical Malpractice
(As to Defendant MARY CARTY)

17. The Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates by reference herein all of the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-16 above.
18. That on or about March 26, 2022, Defendant Mary Carty breached the applicable standard of medical care owed to the Plaintiff, which directly caused a physical injury to the Plaintiff and was the direct and proximate cause of all of the Plaintiff’s injuries and damages.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff claims monetary damages against Mary Carty individually in an amount to be determined at trial, plus costs, and for any further relief that this Honorable Court determines necessary and appropriate.

COUNT II: Negligence – Medical Malpractice
(As to Defendants SIDNEY MCENROE, M.D., DAVID L. FITZGERALD, JR., M.D., and CAROL CHAPMAN, M.D.)

19. The Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates by reference herein all of the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-18 above.
20. That Defendants Sidney McEnroe, M.D., David L. Fitzgerald, Jr., M.D., and Carol Chapman, M.D. deviated from the acceptable standard of medical care during the care and treatment of the Plaintiff on or about March 26, 2022 and thereafter and that this deviation was the direct and proximate cause of a physical injury to the Plaintiff and the direct and proximate cause of all of the Plaintiff’s injuries and damages.

WHEREFORE: Plaintiff claims money damages against Defendants Sidney McEnroe, M.D., David L. Fitzgerald, Jr., M.D., and Carol Chapman, M.D. in an amount to be determined at trial, plus costs, and for any further relief that this Honorable Court determines necessary and appropriate.

COUNT III: Negligence – Medical Malpractice
(As to Defendants SIDNEY MCENROE, M.D., DAVID L. FITZGERALD, JR., M.D., CAROL CHAPMAN, M.D., for failure to supervise)

21. The Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates by reference herein all of the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-20 above.
22. That Defendants Sidney McEnroe, M.D., David L. Fitzgerald, Jr., M.D., and Carol Chapman, M.D., deviated from the acceptable standard of medical care during the care and treatment of the Plaintiff on or about March 26, 2022 and thereafter by failing to properly supervise the medical care and treatment that was being provided by Mary Carty to the Plaintiff and that this deviation was the direct and proximate cause of a physical injury to the Plaintiff and the direct and proximate cause of all of the Plaintiff’s injuries and damages.

WHEREFORE: The Plaintiff claims monetary damages against Defendants Sidney McEnroe, M.D., David L. Fitzgerald, Jr., M.D., and Carol Chapman, M.D. in an amount to be determined at trial, plus costs, and for any further relief that this Honorable Court deems necessary and appropriate.

COUNT IV: Negligence/Medical Malpractice/Respondent Superior/Agency
(As to Defendants JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL and JOHNS HOPKINS COMMUNITY PHYSICIANS, INC.)

23. The Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates by reference herein all of the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-22 above.
24. That during all of the times alleged herein that the Plaintiff was receiving medical care and treatment from Defendants Sidney McEnroe, M.D., David L. Fitzgerald, Jr., M.D., Carol Chapman, M.D., and Mary Carty, P.A.-C., these defendants were employed by Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Community Physicians Inc. and they were acting within the scope of that employment.
25. That Defendants Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. Inc. are responsible for the breach of applicable medical care occasioned by their employees, the defendants herein, which resulted in a physical injury to the Plaintiff.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff claims monetary damages against Defendants Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. Inc. in an amount to be determined at trial, plus costs, and for any further relief that this Honorable Court deems necessary and appropriate.

Respectfully submitted,
Miller & Zois, LLC

Ronald V. Miller, Jr.
1 South St, #2450
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 779-4600
(410) 760-8922 (facsimile)
Attorneys for Ms. Monroe

Types of Claims Our Malpractice Lawyers Handle in Maryland

• Birth injuries
• Hospital malpractice: The reality is stark. A New England Journal of Medicine study found that 25% of hospital patients are the victim of medical errors. It is an incredible statistic. Most of these are harmless errors. But 100,000 die from them each year, making hospital negligence mistakes the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. These are mind-numbing statistics.
  • ER or after admission
  • Surgical errors
• Medication errors (such as drug overdoses, unrecognized drug allergies or improper use or combination of drugs)
• Misdiagnosis
• Failure to diagnose the patient’s condition (such as cancer and heart conditions),
• Nursing home abuse

Additional Resources

• Sample Medical Malpractice Lawsuit #1 (example malpractice lawsuit)
• Sample Medical Malpractice Lawsuit #2 (another example malpractice lawsuit)
• Certificate of Merit (you need this to bring a civil malpractice action in Maryland)
• How to Dismiss the Doctor (without jeopardizing your case)
• Medical Malpractice Frequently Asked Questions