BEAUMONT – Gulf Coast Cardiology Group and a physician are objecting to an expert report in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed in Jefferson County District Court.
Plaintiff Juanita Benoit filed the suit in July, seeking up $1 million in damages.
According to the lawsuit, Benoit was in the care of the defendants on Aug. 19, 2016, and had a cardiac catheterization was performed on her.
Cardiac catheterization is a procedure used to diagnose and treat cardiovascular conditions. During cardiac catheterization, a long thin tube called a catheter is inserted in an artery or vein in the groin, neck or arm and threaded through blood vessels to the heart.
Dr. Pradip Morbia, a defendant in the suit, allegedly erred in the execution of the procedure and failed to safeguard the plaintiff from injury.
Under Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Code, plaintiffs are required to submit an expert report when filed a med-mal claim.
On Sept. 7, the defendants filed an objection the expert report of Dr. Sumita Chowdhury, asserting the physician is not qualified to render an expert report in this case.
The objection states that Chowdhury has not practiced medicine, nor served as a consultant to physicians providing direct patient care, since 2014.
A hearing on the objection was slated for Nov. 26 but was passed, according to a courthouse official.
The plaintiff is represented by Mark Sparks, attorney for The Ferguson Law Firm in Beaumont.
The defendants are represented by John Shepperd, attorney for the Houston law firm Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker.
Judge Baylor Wortham, 136th District Court, is presiding over the case.
Case No. D-202164