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Houston Medical Malpractice Lawyer

When you seek medical care, you trust that your doctor, nurse, or hospital will meet the accepted standard of care. When that trust is broken by a misdiagnosis, a surgical error, or a medication mistake, the consequences can be devastating, and often permanent. If you or a loved one was harmed by a healthcare provider’s negligence, you need a Houston personal injury lawyer who understands the unique procedural hurdles Texas law places on medical malpractice claims.

Texas has some of the strictest medical malpractice laws in the country, including damage caps and a mandatory expert report requirement that can get a case thrown out before it ever reaches a jury if it isn’t handled correctly. Blass Law knows how to work these rules so your claim gets the fair hearing it deserves.

What Counts as Medical Malpractice in Texas?

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider (a doctor, nurse, hospital, surgical team, or other medical professional) fails to meet the accepted standard of care, and that failure causes injury. Common types of medical malpractice include:

  • Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis: Failing to identify a condition like cancer or a heart attack in time to treat it effectively.
  • Surgical errors: Operating on the wrong site, leaving instruments inside a patient, or causing avoidable complications.
  • Medication errors: Prescribing the wrong drug, the wrong dose, or failing to check for dangerous interactions.
  • Birth injuries: Failing to respond to fetal distress or improperly using delivery tools, resulting in harm to mother or child.
  • Anesthesia errors: Administering too much or too little anesthesia, or failing to monitor a patient properly.

Proving a Medical Malpractice Claim

To succeed in a Texas medical malpractice case, you have to establish four elements:

  • Duty: The healthcare provider owed you a duty of care, established simply by the existence of the doctor-patient relationship.
  • Breach: The provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care, what a reasonably prudent provider in the same specialty would have done under similar circumstances.
  • Causation: That breach directly caused your injury, not an unrelated pre-existing condition or an unavoidable complication.
  • Damages: You suffered real harm as a result, including additional medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, or permanent impairment.

Texas’s Expert Report Requirement

Under the Texas Medical Liability Act (Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 74), anyone filing a health care liability claim must serve the defendant with an expert report within 120 days of the defendant filing an answer. That report has to come from a qualified physician or nurse, and it has to lay out the standard of care, how it was breached, and how that breach caused the injury. Miss this requirement, or file a report that doesn’t meet the statute’s standards, and the case can be dismissed, regardless of how strong the underlying facts are. This is one of the main reasons medical malpractice claims are not something to handle without an experienced attorney.

Damage Caps on Texas Medical Malpractice Claims

Texas law caps non-economic damages (pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of companionship) in medical malpractice cases at $250,000 per physician defendant and $250,000 per health care institution, with an overall cap of $500,000 for claims against multiple institutions. These caps do not apply to economic damages like medical bills, future care costs, and lost wages. There is no cap on what you can recover for those losses. Wrongful death and survival claims arising from medical negligence are subject to a separate cap, adjusted annually for inflation.

Statute of Limitations

Texas gives you two years from the date of the negligent act, or from the end of the course of treatment at issue, to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. A ten-year statute of repose also applies: no health care liability claim can be brought more than ten years after the act or omission that caused the harm, even if the injury wasn’t discovered until later. Because of the expert report deadline layered on top of the filing deadline, medical malpractice cases move fast. The sooner you talk to a lawyer, the more time there is to build the case properly.

Contact a Houston Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice cases are some of the most heavily defended claims in Texas, and hospitals and insurance companies bring significant resources to fight them. You need someone in your corner who understands both the medicine and the law. If you or a loved one was harmed by a healthcare provider’s negligence, contact Blass Law today. Call (713) 664-4000 or request a case evaluation online.

Sources
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.74.htm

Real Results for Our Clients

$2.95 Million
Semi-Truck Accident
A commercial truck driver following too closely rear-ended our client’s vehicle. We secured this settlement given the trucking company’s clear negligence.
$300,000
Product Liability
Our client suffered a hand injury from a defective blender. We held the manufacturer accountable for the dangerous product defect.
$100,000
Car Accident
Our client was struck by a driver who ran a red light. With liability clear, we secured a full settlement for medical treatment and pain and suffering.
$70,150
Car Accident
Our client was passing through an intersection when another driver ran a red light, causing a serious collision.
$50,000
Rideshare Accident
Our client was a passenger in an Uber when another vehicle struck the car. We secured compensation for the injuries sustained.
$30,000
Car Accident (Policy Limits)
Our client’s vehicle was struck when another driver failed to yield. We recovered the full amount available under the at-fault driver’s policy.
$30,000
Car Accident
Our client was rear-ended by another driver while driving down the road.
$30,000
Motorcycle Accident
Our client was riding when another driver failed to yield while exiting a private lot, causing a collision.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. See all case results →

Reviewed by Jay Blass Cohen, founder of Blass Law PLLC, ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, certified Drug Recognition Expert, and SFST instructor, serving Houston since 2009. This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

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