HOUSTON – A trip and fall lawsuit brought against an area psychiatrist will continue to go forward, as the 14th Court of Appeals recently found that expert medical testimony won’t be needed to substantiate the claim.
Dr. Ignacio Valdes, a board-certified psychiatrist, began treating Pamela Shields in the spring of 2017. In November of that year, Shields allegedly tripped on a “misplaced rug” while in the waiting room of Valdes’ office.
She later sued him for negligently failing to “maintain” his “furniture in a reasonably safe condition,” court records show.
Valdes responded by filing a motion to dismiss under the Texas Medical Liability Act, asserting Shields’ claim is a health care liability claim because she was a patient at the time of her alleged fall in his office.
An expert report is required when filing a health care liability claim in the state of Texas.
In an affidavit, Valdes also states the no fall because of the rug was ever reported to him or his staff.
Valdes appealed after the trial court denied his motion. On Aug. 28, the 14th Court concluded that “expert medical testimony is unnecessary to prove” Shields’ claims.
“Shields’s allegations concern an allegedly misplaced rug that allegedly formed an unreasonably dangerous condition and Valdes’s alleged failure to make this condition safe or warn Shields about it,” the opinion states. “A claim does not fall within the Texas Medical Liability Act’s provisions just because the underlying occurrence took place in a health care facility, the claim is against a health care provider, or both.
“Because Shields’s claim is not a health care liability claim, the trial court did not err in denying Valdes’s motion to dismiss Shields’ claims under the Texas Medical Liability Act. Therefore, we affirm the trial court order denying Valdes’s motion to dismiss.”
Attorney Scott Novak of Lorance Thompson represents Valdes.
Shields is represented by the Daspit Law Firm.
Appeals case No. 14-18-00725-CV