Maryland Lawsuits AgainstFranklin Square Hospital Center Inc

According to Maryland Judiciary Case Search, Franklin Square, entered with that exact spelling, has been sued for medical malpractice 78 times and for tort claims 3 times since 2012. This includes all defendant names beginning with “Franklin Square” that denote the hospital, such as Franklin Square Hospital, Franklin Square Hospital Center, and Franklin Square Hospital/Medstar Health. These case numbers do not include affiliated facilities such as Franklin Square – Meridian Healthcare Nursing Home.  The exact search criteria used on Maryland Judiciary Case Search is as follows:  Company: Franklin Square, Party Type: Defendant, Case Type: Civil (Medical Malpractice & Other Tort), Court System: Circuit Court only, County: Default All, Filing Date: 9/26/2012-6/09/2022.

The Facility

Founded in 1898 by a group of eight physicians, Franklin Square Hospital has grown from a small building with just 20 beds to an expansive campus offering an array of specialty treatment centers. In 1998 it merged with Medlantic Healthcare Group/Helix Health, a not-for-profit healthcare system that operates several other medical centers throughout Maryland. The organization was renamed Medstar Health in 1999, and in 2012 the hospital was renamed Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center. When Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center is entered on Maryland Judiciary Case Search using the same metrics listed above, the case count increases by 3 medical malpractice claims.

Franklin Square Lawsuits in the News

A former Franklin Square employee was arrested in February 2020 and charged with sexually assaulting a minor. The assault, which apparently occurred when the minor female was a patient at Franklin Square Medical Center in September 2016, came to the attention of law enforcement via a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  Following an investigation that allegedly uncovered graphic images of the victim, the former employee, who worked at Franklin Square at the time of the assault, was apprehended and charged with several sex offenses.

In March 2019, Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center, along with two other Medstar-operated facilities in Maryland, agreed to pay the U.S. government $35 million to settle a lawsuit alleging it provided kickbacks to a cardiology group. The lawsuit resulted from an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office after it was tipped off by two Baltimore area cardiologists claiming they had proof of kickback activity spanning over four years. Following the investigation, the three Medstar facilities were accused of providing lucrative service contracts to the Pikesville-based MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates (MACVA) in exchange for referrals. Such activity was alleged to be in direct violation of the Anti-Kickback Act and False Claims Act, which are laws designed to protect patients from dangerous or unnecessary medical treatment resulting from unscrupulous payoffs between doctors. In this case, the physicians at Franklin Square were alleged to have requested referrals of Medicare-insured patients from MACVA for cardiac procedures so that false claims could be submitted and paid for with taxpayer dollars.

The settlement also resolved a separate lawsuit against Medstar Union Memorial Hospital alleging that one of its cardiologists engaged in long term false billing practices.

Statistics about Franklin Square Hospital

According to Baltimore Business Journal, in 2020, the following was true:

• 20,049 Admissions
• 131,092 Outpatient visits
• 151,141 Admissions and Outpatient visits

This information is from “Hospitals, Ranked by Admissions at Hospitals in Greater Baltimore in 2020” written by Giacomo Bologna, Baltimore Business Journal Book of Lists 2021-2022

Some of the major personal injury firms that regularly sue Franklin Square for medical malpractice are: Schochor, Federico And Staton, P.A.; Salsbury Sullivan, LLC; and The Law Office Of Peter G. Angelos P.C. As the hospital is based in Baltimore County, most of the cases filed in the Maryland circuit court system against Franklin Square were in Baltimore County Circuit Court. If you have been injured by Franklin Square, you should contact a personal injury lawyer to assess your claim.

Last updated June 10, 2022