Virginia Injury Lawyers Blog
Earlier last month, a State Supreme Court issued an opinion reversing the lower court’s dismissal of a plaintiff’s claim, based on the fact that the plaintiff failed to comply with the procedural requirements of a medical malpractice claim under the state’s laws. In the case, Galvan v. Memorial Hermann Hospital System, the Supreme Court of Texas ultimately determined that since there was not a sufficient nexus between the alleged injury and the hospital’s provision of health care, the case was not subject to the heightened requirements of a medical malpractice case.
The Facts of the Case
In Galvan v. Memorial Hermann Hospital System, the plaintiff was a woman who was visiting a relative at the defendant hospital. The plaintiff was walking from the hospital’s pharmacy to her relative’s room when she slipped on a puddle of water that was coming from under a restroom door. The woman filed a lawsuit against the hospital, seeking compensation for her injuries.
In response, the hospital asked the court to dismiss the case because the plaintiff failed to submit an expert report, as is required under state law for all medical malpractice cases. The lower court denied the hospital’s motion, but the intermediate court reversed that decision. The plaintiff then appealed to the state’s supreme court.