Maryland court clarifies that locality rule does not apply anymore

According to the so-called "locality rule," the conduct of a doctor should be evaluated by comparing it to the standard of care specific to the community in which the medical care was given. Although this doctrine has been abandoned, courts often still use confusing language that might suggest it still applies in some jurisdictions.  Apparently, this is the case in Maryland where a statute still mentions that a medical malpractice expert must give testimony that the care given by the defendant doctor "is not in accordance with the standards of practice among members of the same health care profession with similar training and experience situated in the same or similar communities."

A few weeks ago, however, the notion that the locality rule still applies in Maryland was dispelled by a Maryland District Court judge in a case called Willison v Pandey (available here).

Thanks to the Maryland Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog and the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog for the links.