HOUSTON — A long-running medical malpractice lawsuit against a Houston nursing home over a resident's 2014 death following a fall is on its way back to a Harris County court after a state appeals court found the standard of care had been breached.
In its 14-page memorandum opinion issued Feb. 13, a Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals three-judge panel reversed a lower court's dismissal of the healthcare liability lawsuit against Pinnacle Health Facilities, which does business as Woodridge Nursing and Rehabilitation.
"We hold that the trial court abused its discretion when it granted Woodridge's motion to dismiss because appellants' amended expert report states with sufficient detail the causal relationship between the alleged failure to meet the standard of care and the alleged harm resulting in Zoila Robles' injuries and death," the memorandum opinion said. "We therefore sustain appellants' first issue, reverse the trial court's dismissal order, and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings."
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Justice Jerry Zimmerer wrote the memorandum opinion in which Justice Charles A. Spain and Justice Ken Wise concurred.
Robles' children, Jorge Robles and Werner Robles, filed suit after their mother died July 3, 2014 less than two hours after she arrived at Methodist Willowbrook Hospital following a fall of about three feet from a Hoyer lift at Woodridge, according to the memorandum opinion's background portion.
Robles' children alleged Woodridge's negligence was the proximate cause of their mother's injuries and death. The case long has included an expert report that has been amended several times, once after a previous appeal.
Most recently, Woodridge has objected to the expert's amended report, which claims Woodridge staff violated Zoila Robles' care plan and that only one staff member was present at her fall from the Hoyer lift.
In addition to its objection, Woodridge also filed another motion to dismiss based on the alleged failure to serve an adequate expert report. The district court granted Woodridge's motion and the Robles' children's appeal soon followed.
The appeals court panel concluded that the expert's report "adequately addresses" a theory of liability against Woodridge, the memorandum opinion said.
"Woodridge breached the standard of care requiring the use of at least two staff persons to carry out a patient transfer such as the one at issue here and that this breach proximately caused harm to Ms. Robles," the memorandum opinion said. "That is all that is required for the case to proceed at this stage of the litigation."