Murphy, Falcon & Murphy Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Baltimore Orioles Outfielder Nolan Reimold

In a lawsuit filed today in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, attorneys Hassan Murphy, Mary McNamara Koch and Jon Simon Stefanuca of Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, P.A. allege that the Baltimore Orioles outfielder, Nolan Reimold, sustained serious physical injuries as a result of negligent medical care at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Reimold was diagnosed with a herniated disk and underwent spinal surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital on June 25, 2012. The complaint alleges that, after the surgery, Ziya Gokaslan, a neurosurgeon at Hopkins, discharged Reimold on January 10, 2013 to full play without any activity restrictions before his neck bones were fused.

Reimold resumed his normal exercise program with the inadequate bone fusion and appeared in 40 games during the 2013 season, hitting .195/.250/.336 in 140 plate appearances. The complaint alleges that the 2012 surgery failed because Reimold was permitted to engage in strenuous physical activities even though he had not fully recovered from the 2012 surgery. As a result, Reimold was forced to undergo an additional repair surgery on July 22, 2013 and he missed the remainder of 2013 season.

Reimold said,

I was under the impression that everything was fused. Dr. Gokaslan released me to full play without any activity restrictions, and told me I was good to play and workout. I did my best to get back on track. I had no idea that every game I played caused me further injury because my bones weren’t fused.

In 2009, Reimold won the American League Rookie of the Month award and was named Topps All-Star Rookie Outfielder. Prior to his surgery in 2012, he was the Orioles’ hottest hitter, hitting .313 with five home runs and 10 RBIs in his first 16 games. In 2015, the Orioles signed Reimold to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training.

According to Hassan Murphy,

Nolan’s injuries and subsequent absence from the game were entirely avoidable. Unfortunately, because Dr. Gokaslan discharged Nolan before his bones were fully fused, his career took a turn for the worse, and he missed valuable time when he could have been playing at the highest level.