Is Texas Tort Reform in Need of Changes? A Recent Fort Worth Medical Malpractice Case Makes a Strong Argument

The family of a Fort Worth mother who died following three seizures is suing the hospital where she was initially taken for treatment. The lawsuit, filed last month in Dallas County, accuses Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, an emergency room doctor, and a neurologist of medical malpractice errors. The family of the 32-year-old is seeking monetary damages of over $1 million.

According to the lawsuit, the woman suffered a seizure while at home in December 2013. Her husband telephoned for an ambulance, and she was taken to Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital. The lawsuit says that despite the CT scan showing there was blood in her brain, doctors diagnosed her with a migraine and sinus infection and sent her home. Hours later, she suffered second seizure. While being rushed from her home to a different hospital in Fort Worth, she suffered a third seizure that left her brain-dead. The next day she was taken off life support, making her husband a single father to the couple’s two young children.

The family’s attorney said the woman’s brain aneurism could have been treated if it had been properly diagnosed.

The tort reform laws passed in Texas over a decade ago are some of the most stringent in the country.

In Texas, families must prove gross negligence in order to collect any damages for emergency room mistakes. Texas is one of a handful of states where you can’t collect if you’re negligently treated in the ER. Furthermore, according to the family’s attorney, the most they can recover is about $1.6 million because Texas capped damages on ER malpractice suits.

The attorney said he thinks “conscious indifference” can be proved in this case on two levels: the first being the blood on the CT scan film, the second being the symptoms the woman had in the ER. At that point, she should have never been discharged, the attorney said.

The Law Offices of Aaron Allison is highly qualified and welcomes the opportunity to represent those who have been seriously injured or have lost family members as a result of medical malpractice. Contact our Austin medical malpractice attorney online to schedule a free consultation today.

The Law Offices of Aaron Allison – Austin Medical Malpractice Attorney