University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston won in the Fourteenth Court of Appeals as a three-judge panel reversed a previous denial of UTMB’s motion to dismiss concerning a patient’s slip and fall.
Justices Kevin Jewell and Ken Wise ruled on the case on March 26.
A woman named Brenda Jackson sued the hospital after she slipped and fell while admitted in the hospital following a colonoscopy. UTMB filed a motion to dismiss in the 122nd District Court in Galveston County, arguing that the lawsuit was a health care liability claim via Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 74. Still, its motion was denied, and the appeals court has reversed that ruling.
“We conclude that Jackson’s claims are subject to chapter 74’s expert report requirement,” according to Judge Jewell. “Because Jackson failed to serve an expert report in support of her claims, we reverse and render judgment that she take nothing against UTMB, and we remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
The judges pointed out that the section calls for a health care liability plaintiff to include at least one expert report no later than the 120th day following the defendant’s first answer to the suit. Not complying with the policy requires that the case be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the claims cannot be raised again.
To meet the requirement of being a health care liability claim, a doctor or health care provider has to be the defendant, the claims have to be related to not receiving adequate treatment, and the defendant’s conduct that sparked the concern had to have been the direct cause of the adverse impact the plaintiff experienced.
Even though each of these prongs are indisputably met, with the exception of the one over the facility or doctor’s lack of treatment, the judges ruled that that one is met as well.
“The water on which she slipped was in an area not open to the general public,” wrote Justice Jewell. “UTMB therefore, was responsible for Jackson’s safety as a patient, as a minimum.”
The judges also noted that UTMB recognizes federal laws that requires hospitals to adequately fulfill safety and health standards for patients.
While it appears to be an open and shut case, Judge Margaret “Meg” Poissant filed a separate dissenting opinion, stating that the Texas Medical Liability Act doesn’t apply.
“The majority’s opinion is not consistent with the original intent of TMLA and fails to serve the purpose intended by the legislature,” wrote Justice Poissant. She argued that instead, the case is a premises liability cause of action.