Methodist Hosp. v. Shepherd-Sherman (Full Text)

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE – EXPERT REPORT

Methodist Hosp. v. Shepherd-Sherman, No. 14-08-01090-CV (Tex. App. Aug. 20, 2009)

The Texas Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s decision to deny a hospital’s motion to dismiss the claims of a patient based on her failure to meet the expert report requirements.

The hospital sought to dismiss on the basis that the expert was not qualified and that his report failed to meet certain requirements. The patient, a sufferer of Marfan’s syndrome, was instructed by her physician to go to the emergency room and to call him whenever she experienced chest pains, and he would call a certain specialist. This all went according to plan once, but when it occurred again, the physician refused to call the specialist, and hospital personnel stated that the specialist no longer worked at the hospital, so another specialist performed surgery, who placed stents which were allegedly contraindicated for Marfan’s syndrome.

The patient produced a physician expert who alleged that the hospital was liable because hospital personnel breached the standard of care by failing to attempt to locate and contact the specialist, while the hospital contended that the expert report was inadequate because it did not identify the specific type of conduct by each type of hospital personnel involved, such as physicians, nurses or admissions staff. The Texas Court of Appeals held that the expert report was adequate because it explained that when a patient requests a specific physician, the standard of care is the same for physicians and hospital staff, and that all breached the standard of care by failing to attempt to locate and contact the specialist.

The expert report also opined that if the hospital had contacted the specialist, the patient would never have received a stent, and would have avoided injury. The hospital argued that this was speculative and conclusory; however, the court held that the expert report described Marfan’s syndrome and explained why a stent was contraindicated and that no reasonable physician would have performed the surgery.