The Injury Litigation Blog

Facts and Opinions.
Feel free to disregard the opinions.

Woodholme Gastroenterology Lawsuits

By Byron Warnken

There are no fewer than 12 lawsuits against Woodholme Gastroenterology Associates, PA.  According to their website, the group of doctors practices from locations in Pikesville, Severn, Glen Burnie, Catonsville, Eldersburg, and multiple locations in Baltimore.  Other or affiliated names include Endocentre of Baltimore and Endocentre at Quarterfield Station.  The lawsuits against the organization have come in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Anne Arundel County.  These suits are consistant with the locations of offices.

Of the 12 lawsuits, eleven appear to be medical malpractice (sometimes classed as professional malpractice or other torts) and one is a product liability suit.  One suit is open, the rest are closed.

Most recently, attorney Denis Mitchell of DC malpractice firm Stein, Mitchell, Muse & Cippollone, obtained an $8.3 million jury verdict against Woodholme Gastro.  The case closed within the last week as the appeal was dismissed by defense counsel.  (More than likely, this means the case settled for slightly less than the $8.3 million based on prompt payment of a lower amount and no appeal.)  The case was originally filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court in September of 2011.  The trial appears to have lasted multiple weeks.  The $8.3MM figure comes from Westlaw.

Other lawyers handling suits against Woodholme include usual Maryland Medical Malpractice Attorney Suspects: Jonathan Schochor, Jack Lebowitz, and Brian Nash, among a number of others.  The majority of cases were either dismissed with prejudice (usually an indication of a settlement) or resulted in a jury verdict for the plaintiff.

You will notice our listing of Woodholme Gastroenterology lawsuits only lists two cases.  This defendant highlights a shortcoming of InjuryLawyerDatabase.com.  Our listings are not incorrect.  We use exact matches on defendants names.  In addition, we only have complete statistics on the top twenty defendants for our initial run of 1000+ plaintiffs lawyers.  Therefore, the fact that we list lawsuits against Woodholme Gastroenterology Associates PA and not Woodholme Gastroenterology Assoc (shortened) or Woodholme Gastroenterology Associates p.a. (lowercase letters with periods), is not wrong, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.  We are working on this issue as we speak.  Ultimately, we will have exhaustive data from the entirety of Case Search.  However, until we do, everything we list is correct.  That does not mean you should not look for variations either with InjuryLawyerDatabase or with Case Search itself.

Ultimately, the information that Woodholme Gastro has been sued 12 times is what needs to be in the public domain.  People need to know this information.  Does it mean you should not be a patient of theirs?  That’s your decision to make.  Not all medical malpractice suits are viable or result in a decision against the defendant.  Moreover, not all medical malpractice means the organization is not good.  No one is perfect.  What 12 lawsuits against Woodholme does mean is you need to investigate further.

Of further interest here… On a personal note, I used Woodholme Gastroenterology when I had some GI issues.  I liked my doctor personally.  He had a great sense of humor.  However, there was a lack of follow-up.  I would never use them again.  I can see why medical malpractice lawsuits are filed less often against doctors that the potential plaintiff really likes.  However, a nice disposition and a good sense of humor don’t make up for medical mistakes.  This is a fact that must be remembered.

Hospitals associated with Woodholme Gastroenterology include Harbor Hospital, Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Northwest Hospital and Sinai Hospital.

 

Are These All of the Lawsuits?

By Byron Warnken

A lot of traffic comes into this site via searches such as “ABC, Inc. lawsuits” or “lawsuits against XYZ hospital.”  We expected this when we built the site.  Statistics are provided on lawsuits involving the defendant. Visitors to our website wonder, is this all of the lawsuits against this particular defendant?  The answer is usually […]

Why are Settlements Confidential?

By Byron Warnken

When litigation or potential litigation settles, the details of the settlement are often confidential.  Sometimes, the mere fact of the settlement is confidential.  People often want to know why. The reason, from the party paying to settle the litigation, is simple.  They do not want to expose themselves to future liability in the same or […]

How Can I Find Out How Good a Lawyer Is?

By Byron Warnken

I’ve been asked this question before many times.  For so long, I said, simply, reputation. However, reputation is such a loose concept.  Reputation according to whom? For a long time, when someone I know needs an out-of-state lawyer, and I don’t know anyone personally, I recommend this approach: Call up to five lawyers, in the […]

Soft Launch Today

By Byron Warnken

The Injury Lawyer Database has launched.  We use the word “soft” because we are not marketing the site yet.  There are still bugs to get worked out.  We are feverishly working to eliminate them. Some of the bugs are small, like the use of singular possessive versus a plural possessive.  Some are major, like search. […]

Maryland Case Search

By Byron Warnken

The Maryland Judiciary, in 2004, became one of the more progressive state judicial branches in the country via its use of technology.  In October of 2004, Maryland Rules 16-1001 through 16-1011 were enacted.  Records of Maryland cases went online.  The website is officially called “Maryland Judiciary Case Search.”  It is known to residents and lawyers […]

Case Types

By Byron Warnken

In our attorney listings, one of the more useful tools is the case types pie chart.  The case type represents numerous kinds of litigation.  For example, criminal, divorce, and professional malpractice are three different kinds of case types. The information is vital.  Attorneys hold themselves out to be many things.  Criminal attorneys often tell you […]

The Comp Pinkbook Launches to Excellent Buzz

By Byron Warnken

This past week saw the debut of 27Legal’s first product, The Comp Pinkbook.  The book is 1.5 years worth of three different kinds of workers’ compensation awards in Maryland.  The awards are turned into statistics on lawyers, injuries, doctors, employers, and insurers.  It represents the most Maryland workers’ comp data published in one place. The […]

27Legal, LLC – Who We Are

By Byron Warnken

The Comp Pinkbook has gone to the printer.  The big Maryland workers’ comp industry conference is two weeks from today.  We wanted to talk a little about who 27Legal, LLC is. In addition to publishing legal statistics, 27Legal, LLC exists to help clients find lawyers and help lawyers find clients.  Both goals are accomplished through […]

Progressive Insurance v. Fisher

By Byron Warnken

Progressive Insurance represented a motorist who killed a woman in a car accident.  Progressive Insurance’s client – the one who paid Progressive money to be insured, was the woman who died.  Why did Progressive represent their client’s killer?  It is slightly more complex, but the one sentence answer is: When a motorist is uninsured, the […]