Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Maryland

Statute of limitations to expire! From when? Need to file ASAP-

I had a tooth extracted by a student on 1/12/04 at U of MD Dental School's clinic. It led to infection and 3 to 4 more oral surgeries. After last surgery on 3/30/04 I was in so much pain that my personal physician got me a CT scan and found my jaw was broken. The bone had rotted away from the infection.

I had 2 major surgeries, to repair my jaw bone, install a titanium plate, and treat the infection. Hospitalized 10 days, on IV meds for 6 weeks, twisted lip, loss of feeling in jaw, major scar, etc. Lost my job. Saw attorneys who were interested in the case, but suggested I wait until all my corrective work was done, as I had no money, and the school paid for my treatment. Their insurance made an offer 2 years ago but I thought it was too low at the time.

Mental health issues and bad advise, hoping for settlement, now the statute of limitations is about to expire. I have dental records but no doctors cert of merit. MD law allows 90 days to submit after filing my claim.

How much time do I have to submit a claim to the state board to preserve my right to sue? Does it expire at date of extraction, or discovery of the broken jaw?

Can I prepare an initial claim against the school myself and have it added to later? How?


Asked on 1/07/07, 10:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
James P Koch Law Offices of James P. Koch

Re: Statute of limitations to expire! From when? Need to file ASAP-

Statute of limitations is 3 years from date you knew or should have known you had a malpractice claim. Getting an infection is a known risk of many medical/ dental procedures. Malpractice usually occurs because the infection was not diagnosed and treated in a timely fashion. A medical expert will have to review your records to determine whether your dentist misdiagnosed and/or failed to treat the infection properly. You may be able to successfully argue that you only discovered you had a malpractice claim when you obtained the CT scan which disclosed the broken jaw, and that the statute of limitations began to run from that date; however, there may be pertinent facts not included in your post, and the statute of limitations may well have started to run at an earlier point. Please feel free to contact me if you want to discuss your case in more detail.

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Answered on 1/08/07, 11:01 am


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