Friday, May 13, 2011

Supreme Court rules patient fall in the bathroom is a health care claim; Harris Methodist v. Ollie

The Texas Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion in Harris Methodist Fort Worth v. Ollie today.  In this case, Plaintiff Ollie sued the hospital after slipping on a wet bathroom floor during her post-operative stay.  She alleged general negligence and medical malpractice, but later amended her petition to omit the medical malpractice claims.  When she failed to provide an expert report, the hospital moved for dismissal.  The trial court denied the motion and the Court of Appeals affirmed. 

The Supreme Court stated that in order to determine if Ollie's was a health care liability claim, it was required to look at the underlying nature of the claim.  "Thus, it is the underlying nature of Ollie’s claim that determines whether the claim is for a departure from accepted standards of safety relating to 'an act . . . that should have been performed or furnished by [Harris Methodist] for, to, or on behalf of [Ollie] during [Ollie’s] medical care, treatment, or confinement.'"  The claim went to whether the hospital should have provided services to keep her safe during her post-operative stay and was health care liability claim.

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