1st COA--Doctors Hospital v. Hernandez

In this case, Doctors Hospital and Nurse Price challenged the trial court's denial of their motion to dismiss and objections to Plaintiff's expert reports.  This undeniably tragic case arose from the death of Cynthia Hernandez just eight hours after delivering her daughter.  Plaintiffs filed the expert reports of Harold Miller, M.D., an ob-gyn, and Traci McManaman-Bridges, a registered nurse.

Defendants first claimed that Dr. Miller was not qualified to serve as an expert because his experience was all in teaching hospitals, such as Ben Taub Hospital and not in smaller, tertiary care hospitals.  The COA rejected this claim, sating that the relevant inquiry must be guided by CPRC 74.402, which states:

(a) For purposes of this section, "practicing health care" includes:

(1)training health care providers in the same field as the defendant health care provider at an   accredited educational institution; or
(2) serving as a consulting health care provider and being licensed, certified, or registered in the same field as the defendant health care provider.
(b)In a suit involving a health care liability claim against a health care provider, a person may qualify as an expert witness on the issue of whether the health care provider departed from accepted standards of care only if the person:
(1) is practicing health care in a field of practice that involves the same type of care or treatment as that delivered by the defendant health care provider, if the defendant health care provider is an individual, at the time the testimony is given or was practicing that type of health care at the time the claim arose;
(2) has knowledge of accepted standards of care for health care providers for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of the illness, injury, or condition involved in the claim; and
(3) is qualified on the basis of training or experience to offer an expert opinion regarding those accepted standards of health care.
(c) In determining whether a witness is qualified on the basis of training or experience, the court shall consider whether, at the time the claim arose or at the time the testimony is given, the witness:
(1) is certified by a licensing agency of one or more states of the United States or a national professional certifying agency, or has other substantial training or experience, in the area of health care relevant to the claim; and
(2) is actively practicing health care in rendering health care services relevant to the claim.

The COA held that Dr. Miller was qualified as he was a board certified ob-gyn in practice since 1967 with extensive practical and teaching experience.  Defendants also claimed that Dr. Miller was not qualified to opine as to the conduct of the nurses.  The COA also rejected this argument.  Dr. Miller stated that he had experienced working with nurses and was familiar with the standard of care for nurses.

In their second point of error, Defendants claimed that Dr. Miller's expert report was insufficient because it contradicted the medical records.  The COA reiterated the rule that only the four corners of the expert report can be considered in a motion to dismiss.  Finally, Defendants claimed that the report was conclusory as to causation.  The COA held that the report sufficiently linked the conclusions to the facts of the case.  The trial court's decision was affirmed.

See the opinion at Doctors Hospital v. Hernandez