For nearly forty years, Anderson Coe & King has been a leader in defending health care professionals, outpatient surgical care centers, nursing homes and hospitals. AC&K attorneys were instrumental in the creation of the Health Claims Arbitration system after the “medical malpractice crisis” in the mid-1970’s and successfully defended the system’s constitutionality in the Maryland Court of Appeals. We have worked successfully to shape professional malpractice law: establishing seminal law on the standard of care applicable to individual health care providers and hospitals; requiring claimants in health claims arbitration proceedings to present evidence of the health care provider’s liability before proceeding to circuit court; strengthening statute of limitations law applicable to professional malpractice; arguing against the adoption of a cause of action for wrongful birth in a case of first impression in the Court of Appeals of Maryland.
Our attorneys regularly defend physicians, nurses, dentists and other health care professionals as well as large teaching hospitals and community hospitals in state and federal courts and state administrative proceedings against claims of mistakes in diagnosis, birth injuries and surgical errors. AC&K also represents physicians, nurses and dentists before state licensing boards and hospital peer review and credentialing committees. We defend physicians against charges of fraudulent billing made by federal and state government agencies and third party payors.
ACK attorneys regularly counsel hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities in medical and allied health staff credentialing matters, confidentiality of health information questions and risk management issues.
ACK attorneys also defend other professionals, including accountants, surveyors, engineers, attorneys, real estate agents, real estate appraisers, and construction companies in litigation and licensing matters
• Established the seminal law on the standard of care applicable to physicians and to hospitals:
• Johns Hopkins Hospital v. Genda, 255 Md. 616, 258 A.2d 595 (1969)
• Anderson v. Johns Hopkins Hospital, 260 Md. 248, 272 A.2d 372 (1971)
• Shilkret v. Annapolis Emergency Hospital Ass’n., 276 Md. 187, 349 A.2d 245 (1975)
• Successfully defended the constitutionality of Maryland’s Health Claims Arbitration system in Attorney General v. Johnson, 282 Md. 274, 385 A.2d 57 (1978)
• Litigated the issue of whether Maryland would adopt a cause of action for “wrongful birth” in Jones v. Malinowski, 299 Md. 257 A.2d 429 (1984)
• Established that litigants in health claims arbitration proceedings must present evidence at hearing on the merits to satisfy condition precedent to circuit court action in Bailey v. Wohl, 302 Md. 38, 485 A.2d 265 (1984)
• Represented physician’s mutual liability company in action against State of Maryland to preclude the State’s practice of imposing obligation to pay costs on prevailing party in health claims arbitration proceedings in Tabler v. Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland, 301 Md. 189, 482 A.2d 873 (1984)
• Established that a personal injury plaintiff who lacks the capacity to assist counsel may be barred from appearing in the liability phase of a trial in Green v. North Arundel Hospital Association, 366 Md. 597, 785 A.2d 361 (2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 1055 (2002)
• Established that a cause of action does not exist in Maryland for “wrongful life” in Kassama v. Magat, 368 Md. 113, 792 A.2d 1102 (2002)
