Some of Maryland’s largest medical malpractice verdicts have involved catastrophic injuries that juries concluded resulted from preventable failures in care. While the medical circumstances vary, many of these cases share a common pattern: warning signs that, according to the evidence presented at trial, were overlooked, delayed, or not acted upon until the patient’s condition had significantly worsened.
Looking at these Maryland medical malpractice verdicts reveals more than the size of the jury awards. They illustrate how breakdowns in communication, delayed intervention, and missed opportunities can turn a treatable condition into a life-altering injury. They also show why the verdicts reported in the news rarely reflect the amount a patient ultimately recovers under Maryland law.
Maryland Medical Malpractice Verdicts: 3 Things The Headlines Leave Out
A reported jury award and a patient’s actual recovery are two different numbers. Here is what Maryland medical malpractice verdicts really tell you once the statutory cap is applied.
Puntos clave
- The headline number is rarely the recovery. A judge applies Maryland’s cap after trial, which is why Faith Kunda’s $35 million verdict became a recovery of roughly $5.8 million, and Jamie White’s $18 million verdict is expected to land closer to $4.5 million.
- Economic damages have no ceiling. The cap touches only pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. Medical bills, lost income, and long-term care costs remain fully recoverable, which is why capped recoveries in these cases still run into the millions.
- The cap is set by when the claim arose, not when it is filed. It was $830,000 for causes of action arising in 2020 and $920,000 for those arising in 2026, rising $15,000 every January 1.
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You’re Not Looking For A Number. You’re Looking For An Answer.
Verdicts make headlines, but that isn’t usually what brings someone to this page. Most people arrive carrying a much harder question: could this have been stopped? Was there a moment when somebody should have acted, and didn’t?
That question deserves more than a guess. Our attorneys will listen to what happened, walk back through the timeline of care with you, and tell you honestly what we see in it. There’s no cost to have that conversation.
Schedule A Free ConsultationTwo Recent Verdicts, Two Preventable Failures
Recent Prince George’s County verdicts provide useful examples. Although the underlying injuries were very different, both cases centered on allegations that providers failed to respond appropriately after clear signs that a patient’s condition was worsening.
Faith Kunda v. Premier Surgical Pavilion and Lexington Plastic Surgeons
In May 2020, Kunda underwent liposuction and a Brazilian butt lift at a surgical center in Oxon Hill. She developed a postoperative infection that a physician’s assistant allegedly failed to recognize at two follow-up visits, even after Kunda reported feeling feverish. Ten days later, she was found in septic shock, diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, and transferred to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where she spent more than three months.
In March 2025, a Prince George’s County jury awarded her $35,013,510, including $30 million for pain and suffering and approximately $5 million in economic damages for medical care, lost income, and household services, according to The Daily Record. Because Maryland’s cap applied, her pain and suffering award was reduced to $830,000, bringing her total recovery to approximately $5.8 million. Defense counsel has said the defendants intend to appeal.
Jamie White v. University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center
In 2020, White slipped on ice and dislocated her knee, an injury that can cut off blood flow to the leg if not treated immediately. She was taken to Prince George’s Hospital Center, where her attorneys argued that two subsequent surgeries were delayed for hours, causing oxygen deprivation.
Over the next eight months, White underwent nearly 30 surgeries trying to save her leg before it was amputated above the knee. In March 2026, a jury awarded her $18 million, according to FOX 5 DC. Under the same cap, her actual recovery is expected to be closer to $4.5 million. The hospital disputes the verdict, stating that it believes the care White received was timely and appropriate.
These cases involved different injuries, healthcare providers, and medical specialties. Yet both verdicts centered on the same allegation: serious warning signs that reportedly called for immediate action but were not addressed until the patient’s condition had dramatically worsened.
These are not the only significant medical malpractice verdicts returned in Maryland, but they are recent examples that illustrate how catastrophic injuries often arise from failures to recognize and respond to known medical risks.
What Do Maryland’s Largest Medical Malpractice Verdicts Have in Common?
Although every malpractice case turns on its own facts, many of Maryland’s catastrophic malpractice cases reveal similar breakdowns in patient care. Looking beyond the dollar amounts helps explain how certain failures repeatedly lead to catastrophic injuries.
Delayed Recognition of Deterioration
Patients rarely collapse without warning. Kunda reported a fever at a follow-up visit days before she went into septic shock. White’s dislocated knee carried a known risk of vascular compromise that called for urgent evaluation. In both cases, the plaintiffs argued that the earliest sign of trouble should have triggered a faster response than it did.
Communication Breakdowns
Kunda’s physician assistant allegedly failed to check her temperature or relay Kunda’s requests to speak directly with the surgeon, a gap the surgeon later blamed on a broken chain of communication under Maryland’s rules governing physician assistants. Missed handoffs, unclear follow-up instructions, and information that never reaches the physician who needs it are common threads in cases involving multiple providers or shift changes.
Failure to Act on Known Risks
Both cases involved a recognized medical risk, a post-surgical infection and a vascular injury, which providers allegedly knew or should have known required prompt intervention. The claim in each case was not that the risk was unforeseeable, but that it was not acted on quickly enough once it appeared.
These themes recur across many of the state’s largest verdicts because they describe ordinary lapses, not rare medical mysteries. Yet those seemingly ordinary failures are often the hardest to prove. Demonstrating that a delay of hours or days altered the outcome usually requires detailed medical records, expert testimony, and a carefully reconstructed timeline showing when opportunities to intervene were missed.
Why Is the Jury’s Number Not the Final Number?
One reason Maryland medical malpractice verdicts often differ from the amounts patients ultimately recover is Maryland’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages, meaning compensation for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. The cap rises each year. For causes of action arising in 2020, like both cases above, it was $830,000. For causes of action arising in 2026, it is $920,000.
The cap does not apply to economic damages. Past and future medical bills, lost income, and the cost of household help or long-term care are fully recoverable, with no ceiling, which is why Kunda’s and White’s reduced recoveries still run into the millions. The jury never hears about the cap during trial; a judge applies it afterward, when entering final judgment, so liability and damages are decided on the evidence rather than adjusted around a legal formula.
This distinction helps explain why reported medical malpractice settlements in Maryland differ substantially from the amount ultimately recovered. The headline figure reflects the jury’s findings, while the final judgment reflects Maryland’s statutory limits on noneconomic damages.
What to Do If Medical Negligence Harmed a Loved One in Maryland
Determining whether a catastrophic injury could have been prevented often requires reconstructing the timeline of care, identifying when warning signs first appeared, and evaluating whether healthcare providers responded appropriately at each stage.
Brockstedt Mandalas Federico LLC represents patients and families in complex medical malpractice litigation throughout Maryland, including cases involving delayed diagnosis, hospital negligence, and other preventable medical errors that result in life-changing injuries. Evaluating these cases requires more than identifying a poor outcome. It requires determining whether an earlier diagnosis, different treatment, or faster intervention would likely have changed the patient’s outcome. Contact our firm today.
Common Questions
Maryland Medical Malpractice Verdicts: Questions Patients Ask Most
Reported jury awards raise more questions than they answer. These are the ones families ask most often about Maryland medical malpractice verdicts and what patients actually recover.
Two recent Prince George’s County cases stand out. In March 2025, a jury awarded Faith Kunda $35,013,510 after a postoperative infection progressed to necrotizing fasciitis and septic shock. In March 2026, a jury awarded Jamie White $18 million after delayed surgeries following a dislocated knee led to an above-the-knee amputation.
Three patterns recur: delayed recognition that a patient is deteriorating, communication breakdowns between providers, and failure to act on a known medical risk. These are ordinary lapses rather than rare medical mysteries, which is part of why they keep producing catastrophic injuries across otherwise unrelated cases.
Because the question is not whether the outcome was bad, but whether acting sooner would have changed it. Demonstrating that a delay of hours or days altered the result usually requires detailed medical records, expert testimony, and a carefully reconstructed timeline showing when opportunities to intervene were missed.
The cap limits how much a jury can award for pain, suffering, and similar noneconomic losses. It began at $650,000 for causes of action arising between 2005 and 2008, and increases by $15,000 each January 1 thereafter. For causes of action arising in 2026, it is $920,000.
No. Maryland’s cap applies only to noneconomic damages. Past and future medical expenses, lost income, and other economic losses can be recovered in full, without a statutory limit. That is why capped recoveries in the largest verdicts still run well into the millions.
Maryland law does not permit juries to be told about the cap during trial. A judge applies it afterward, when entering final judgment, so the verdict reflects the evidence rather than the statutory limit. Liability and damages are decided on the facts presented, not adjusted around a legal formula.
Yes. Beyond the cap, a verdict can be reduced, appealed, or reversed entirely. Defendants in high-value cases frequently pursue post-trial motions or appeals, which can take months or years to resolve. A reported award is best understood as a milestone rather than a final figure.
Most Maryland malpractice claims resolve through settlement rather than trial, and negotiated settlements are often lower than the state’s largest reported verdicts. Because the cap reduces large awards after trial, settlement values and post-verdict recoveries often land closer together than headline figures suggest. Every case differs on its evidence and injury severity.
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You Don’t Have To Untangle The Records Alone
A hospital chart can run to hundreds of pages, and the part that matters is often a single timestamp buried in the middle of it. Nobody expects you to find that on your own, and you don’t need to know whether you have a case before you call.
Bring whatever you have: a discharge summary, a date, or just the sense that something went wrong. We’ll pull the timeline together, explain how Maryland handles these claims, and be straight with you about what we find, either way.
Schedule A Free ConsultationLegal References Used to Inform This Page
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process:
- FOX 5: Prince George’s County Woman Who Had Leg Amputated Wins $18M in Malpractice Lawsuit
- The Daily Record: Jury Awards $35M Med Mal Verdict to Woman Who Went Into Coma After Cosmetic Surgery
- Maryland Medical Malpractice Caps
Phil Federico es socio de Brockstedt Mandalas Federico, donde ayuda a dirigir las prácticas de Mass Tort / Class Action y Derecho Ambiental, la transición a estas áreas después de comenzar su carrera como litigante de negligencia médica.
Phil ha dirigido y participado en litigios históricos y pioneros con veredictos y acuerdos que superan los mil millones de dólares.