Maryland Medical Malpractice Expert Witness Rules
A Maryland Medical Malpractice lawyer must find a medical expert witness to substantiate the medical malpractice law suit. Finding an expert witness can be a difficult task, so if a Maryland medical malpractice attorney has agreed to pursue your claim, it is because they have evidence to believe that your medical malpractice, or professional negligence claim probably has merit.
The qualifications of the medical expert depend on the subject matter of each particular malpractice claim. The basic requirements under Maryland law for an expert witness are:
- They expert witness has clinical experience
- The Medical expert must have provided consultation relating to clinical practice
- The medical expert must have taught medicine in the defendant’s specialty OR a related field of medical care OR in the field of medical health care in which the defendant provided care or medical treatment to the plaintiff, within 5 years of the date of the allged medical malpractice negligence. Under some circumstances the medical expert must be board-certified in the relevant area of medicine.
Maryland is particularly stringent to help the courts from being filled with frivolous medical malpractice claims.
Once a medical expert who meets this criteria has been located and has agreed to testify, the medical malpractice lawyer must file a Maryland Certificate of Merit. This Maryland Certificate of Merit must contain three criteria:
- Where the expert medical witness is licensed to practice
- An opinion with a reasonable degree of probability that the medical doctor who performed the alleged malpractice deviated from the applicable standard of care in treating the plaintiff, and that as a result there was damage from the breach of medical treatment from the standard of care
- That the medical expert does not devote annually more than twenty percent (20%) of his/her professional activities that directly involve the testimony in personal injury claims.
In spite of what numerous tort reform groups claim about medical malpractice frivolous claims, medical malpractice lawyers have known for years that unless you want to go out of business, these rules in Maryland, as well as other States in the Union, have effectively kept out un-meritorious medical malpractice claims.
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For more information visit our main Medical Malpractice webpage...