Maryland Lawsuits AgainstDoctors Emergency Service PA

According to Maryland Judiciary Case Search, Doctors Emergency Service, entered with that exact spelling, has been sued 1 time for medical malpractice since 2012. It has not been sued for any tort claims since 2012. The exact search criteria used on Maryland Judiciary Case Search is as follows:  Company: Doctors Emergency Service, Party Type: Defendant, Case Type: Civil, Court System: Circuit Court only, County: Default All, Filing Date: 9/26/2012-08/20/2020.

History of Doctors Emergency Service 

Doctors Emergency Service, P.A. (DESPA) is a network of physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who are exclusively contracted to provide acute medical care at Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC). DESPA’s doctors treat patients in AAMC’s adult and pediatric emergency departments as well as its pediatric inpatient wing. Founded in 1992, the organization employs a staff of about 50 medical professionals who are all board certified in emergency medicine and/or pediatrics.

Doctors Emergency Service in the News

AAMC’s emergency room is not unique in its utilization of a third-party contractor to provide care. This practice has become standard procedure in almost all of Maryland’s hospitals.  Emergency room visitors are usually informed in writing upon admittance that any doctors treating them are independent agents and not hospital employees. However, many of these patients are in severe pain or distress when seeking acute care and assume the medical staff attending to them work directly for the facility. It’s not until they receive a bill in the mail from a third-party vendor they have probably never heard of that the distinction becomes more clear.

This nuance creates a unique challenge for plaintiffs alleging emergency room malpractice. Most states hold hospitals directly liable for the actions of their acute care physicians regardless of whether they are employees or contractors. However, Maryland’s court system requires that a patient prove they were unaware of their emergency room doctor’s third party designation at the time of treatment before a hospital can be found responsible for medical errors or negligence.  A good personal injury attorney will strive to convince a jury that a plaintiff was not made adequately aware of their doctor’s employment status because hospitals usually have more extensive insurance coverage than third party medical contractors, allowing for the possibility of a larger monetary award.

Some of the major personal injury attorneys that regularly sue DESPA for medical malpractice are Schochor, Federico And Staton, P.A., and The Law Office Of Annie B. Hirsch LLC. As DESPA practices exclusively at Anne Arundel Medical Center, claims against it are filed in Anne Arundel Circuit Court. If you or a loved one have been injured by DESPA, you should contact a personal injury lawyer to assess your claim.

Last updated August 31, 2020