Medical negligence settlements
in Maryland.
Maryland applies pure contributory negligence — 1% claimant fault bars recovery — combined with an inflation-indexed cap on non-economic damages currently around $935,000. For medical negligence claims specifically, the band is built from the state-by-state tort law · jury verdict reporters · statutory caps framework and then adjusted for Maryland's pure contributory negligence and any applicable statutory cap.
Maryland retains pure contributory negligence — one of only a handful of US jurisdictions that has not abolished the rule. For medical negligence claims, this means any percentage of claimant fault, however small, bars recovery entirely. The rule converts mixed-liability medical negligence cases into binary outcomes and gives defendants and their insurers substantial settlement leverage. Plaintiffs' counsel here typically focus heavily on framing the claimant's conduct as faultless before damages are even discussed.
For medical negligence claims specifically, statutory caps frequently apply to non-economic damages or to total recovery — Maryland's caps (non-economic damages cap (general), medical malpractice cap) materially compress the upper end of the band. Catastrophic medical negligence cases that would otherwise produce seven- or eight-figure awards are routinely capped at the statutory ceiling.
The US band is the starting point. Maryland's fault rule and any applicable cap then adjust the figure.