Doctor Shocked By Medical Device Was Medical Negligence Claim: The Court of Appeals Thirteenth District of Texas Corpus Christi – Edinburg (“Texas Appellate Court”) held in its Memorandum Opinion dated August 4, 2022 that a doctor’s claim that he was shocked and seriously injured by a faulty medical device that he was using while delivering a baby at the defendant hospital was a medical negligence claim subject to the requirements of the Texas Medical Liability Act (TMLA).
Background Facts
On September 9, 2019, Plaintiff Patrick S. Skulemowski DO filed his original petition, asserting a negligence claim against Valley Regional Medical Center (Valley Regional). Skulemowski alleged that Valley Regional was negligent in its operation, control, and maintenance of an electrocautery device, which Skulemowski had used in performing a caesarean section on a patient. He further alleged that he endured an electroshock from the device, which caused injury, immediate severe pain, and long-term chronic pain.
On March 4, 2020, Valley Regional filed its motion to dismiss with prejudice for failure to serve an expert report. In its motion, Valley Regional claimed that Skulemowski’s allegations fell within the definition of a health care liability claim (HCLC) pursuant to Chapter 74 and that he had failed to serve an expert report, requiring the trial court to render dismissal with prejudice. After a hearing, the trial court denied Valley Regional’s motion to dismiss. Valley Regional appealed.
Texas Appellate Court Opinion
The Texas Appellate Court stated that using the statutory definition, a safety-standard claim need not be directly related to the provision of health care to qualify as an HCLC. However, there must be a substantive nexus between the safety standards allegedly violated and the provision of health care. This nexus depends on whether the standards on which the claim is based implicate the defendant’s duties as a health care provider, including its duties to provide for patient safety.
The Texas Appellate Court stated, “The events underlying Skulemowski’s claims occurred while he was performing a caesarian section on a patient at Valley Regional. Skulemowski alleges that an electrocautery device used to conduct the caesarian section shocked him, causing injuries, severe and long-term pain. Skulemowski’s claims are, at the very least, indirectly related to healthcare. The question before this Court is whether there exists a substantive nexus between the safety standards allegedly violated and the provision of health care.”
“Because the alleged injury occurred while a patient was being rendered medical care, the alleged negligence necessarily occurred in the course of Valley Regional performing tasks with the purpose of protecting patients from harm … the injury occurred in a place where patients were receiving care, implicating Valley Regional’s obligation to protect persons who require medical care; and Skulemowski was providing health care to a patient when he was injured … the alleged negligence—Valley Regional’s negligent operation, control, and maintenance of an electrocautery device used to render health care to a patient—arises out of the safety standards that are part of the professional duties owed by Valley Regional as a health care provider. Furthermore, an eletrocautery device is an instrumentality used to provide health care … the alleged negligence involved in this case implicates safety-related requirements set for Valley Regional by governmental or accrediting agencies.”
The Texas Appellate Court held: “The record in this case demonstrates a substantive nexus between the safety standards Skulemowski alleged Valley Regional breached and the provision of health care … We conclude that Skulemowski’s claims are HCLCs, that Skulemowski is therefore a “claimant” under the TMLA, and that Skulemowski was required to furnish an expert report. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 74.001(a)(2); § 74.351(a). Because Skulemowski failed to furnish an expert report, the trial court erred when it denied Valley Regional’s motion to dismiss. We sustain Valley Regional’s issues on appeal.”
Source Valley Regional Medical Center v. Skulemowski DO, Number 13-20-00394-CV.
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