HOUSTON – A medical malpractice lawsuit over a teenage girl’s suicide resulted in a $1.35 million judgment, which was recently affirmed by the 14th Court of Appeals.
The lawsuit was brought by the girl’s parents, Ginger Thompson and Brad Washington, and named Pediatrics Cool Care, Dr. Jose Salguero and Jenelle Robinson (a physician’s assistant) as defendants.
Court records show the plaintiffs’ daughter began receiving treatment at Pediatrics Cool Care (PCC) in 2010 when she was 12 years old. Salguero is the lead physician at PCC.
On March 1, 2012, the girl went to PCC and was diagnosed with depressive disorder and prescribed Celexa, an antidepressant with a “black box” warning label that the drug has a significant risk of serious adverse effects, including suicidal ideation.
On Aug. 14, 2012, the girl was found unresponsive in her room and later pronounced dead. An autopsy documented her cause of death as suicide from a
Benadryl overdose.
Court records show the parents filed their med-mal on Feb. 26, 2014, alleging negligence and gross negligence in the treatment of their daughter.
At trial, the jury awarded a total of $6.6 million in noneconomic damages. In accordance with Texas law, the trial court capped the noneconomic damages at $250,000. The trial court computed prejudgment interest on the entire amount of the noneconomic damages cap of $250,000.
On appeal, the defendants argued the final judgment should have computed prejudgment interest of $4,007.83 for Thompson and $9,146.50 for Washington.
The 14th Court disagreed, finding on Jan. 29 that the defendants have not demonstrated that the trial court erred in its calculation of prejudgment interest.
Appeals case No. 14-19-00031-CV