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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

ANGELIA M. ANDERSON v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

: : : CIVIL NO. CCB-08-3 : : ...o0o... MEMORANDUM

The United States, the defendant in this case, requests that the court reconsider its decision to stay this proceeding instead of dismissing it without prejudice and, in the alternative, asks that the court lift the stay to permit further filings. The plaintiff, Angelia M. Anderson ("Ms. Anderson"), also requests that the court re-open the case to proceed on the merits. Ms. Anderson seeks damages, pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), for injuries she allegedly sustained as a result of negligent care she received at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland ("VA Hospital"). The issues have been fully briefed and no hearing is necessary. For the following reasons, the court will deny the defendant's motion for reconsideration and will grant both parties' motions to lift the stay.1

Also pending before the court is the defendant's October 20, 2008 motion to strike plaintiff's references to the parties' settlement discussions, which was attached to another of defendant's motions to lift the stay. In accordance with Federal Rule of Evidence 408, which makes inadmissible certain evidence pertaining to settlement negotiations, the court will grant the motion to strike, see Fiberglass Insulators, Inc. v. Dupuy, 856 F.2d 652, 654 (4th Cir. 1988), as to the referenced exhibits. Information contained in the complaint and the plaintiff's memoranda will be disregarded rather than stricken, except that the court will consider, to the extent relevant, the fact that settlement negotiations were ongoing during a significant period of time. Federal Rule of Evidence 408, of course, does not exclude evidence of settlement negotiations offered for a purpose other than proof of liability or invalidity of the claim. Id. 1

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BACKGROUND On January 2, 2008, Ms. Anderson filed her original complaint in this court alleging that she received negligent medical care at the VA Hospital, which caused severe and permanent disability, unending physical pain, and emotional anguish, among other injuries. Specifically, she claimed that, despite presenting to the VA Hospital complaining of back pain on several occasions in the late summer and fall of 2002, the VA Hospital failed to (1) adequately examine her; (2) diagnose the presence of an epidural spinal tumor which developed as a consequence of her known cancer; and (3) refer her for timely surgical intervention. Her complaint further alleged that, in accordance with FTCA requirements, she filed a tort claim with the appropriate VA agency on December 17, 2003, and the claim was denied on September 26, 2007. The United States moved to dismiss the complaint without prejudice on the basis that Ms. Anderson failed to comply with the Maryland Health Care Malpractice Claims Act ("HCMCA"), which establishes several requirements that must be met before certain medical malpractice actions may be filed. Specifically, Ms. Anderson failed to present her claim to the Director of the Maryland Health Claims Alternative Dispute Resolution Office ("HCADRO") accompanied within 90 days by a certificate of qualified expert attesting to the VA Hospital's departure from standards of care and that the departure proximately caused her injuries. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc.

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