Simmons v. Texoma Med. Ctr.
| Decision Date | 30 November 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-09-00031-CV.,08-09-00031-CV. |
| Citation | 329 S.W.3d 163 |
| Parties | Karen Scruggs SIMMONS, Individually and as Representative of the Estate of Brandon Scruggs, Appellant, v. TEXOMA MEDICAL CENTER, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Paul D. Rich, Law Office of Domingo A. Garcia, PC, Dallas, for Appellant.
Michelle E. Robberson, Cooper & Scully, P.C., Dallas, for Appellee.
Before CHEW, C.J., McCLURE, and RIVERA, JJ.
Karen Scruggs Simmons, individually and as representative of the Estate of Brandon Scruggs, appeals the trial court's order dismissing her suit, with prejudice, against Texoma Medical Center ("TMC"). We affirm.
The following facts are taken from Simmons' original and amended petitions. Having overdosed on the antipsychotic drug, Loxapine, Simmons' son, Brandon Scruggs, was admitted to TMC's emergencyroom and sent to an exam room. There, Scruggs, who weighed 380 pounds and suffered from schizophrenia, was agitated, "yell[ed] out" at various individuals, and repeatedly attempted to get out of bed. Consequently, a physician ordered him to be placed in soft restraints at his arms and ankles, as an activated charcoal treatment was administered for the drug overdose.1 When the charcoal treatment finished, Scruggs broke the soft restraints and got out of bed. The emergency room staff subdued Scruggs and pinned him to the floor. There, an unidentified member of the staff placed a knee on the back of Scruggs' neck. While pinned to the floor, Scruggs stopped breathing. Attempts were made to resuscitate Scruggs, but they were unsuccessful.
On February 5, 2008, Simmons filed suit against TMC, alleging that it was responsible for the death of her son. Simmons' original petition alleged that her injuries and damages were caused by the hospital's negligence "in failing to train, select and retain staff and or independent contractors who associated with [Scruggs'] treatment while he was a patient...." She further alleged gross negligence and assault based on the same facts and theories. Based on her causes of action, she requested the suit to be governed by a Level 2 discovery control plan.
Along with her petition, Simmons served a set of interrogatories, notice of deposition, and requests for production. TMC provided Scruggs' medical records and other information relevant to his health care, but on March 31, 2008, the hospital objected to providing its policies and procedures, claiming that discovery of those documents was stayed under Section 74.351(s) of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code as Simmons had not yet served the hospital with an expert report.2 TMC also filed a motion for a Level 3 discovery control plan as it believed Simmons' causes of action were for medical malpractice.
On June 4, 2008, Simmons filed a motion to compel the production of the hospital's policies and procedures. Attached to the motion was an "expert report" authored by Larry Hampton, who is not a physician or health care provider, nor does he practice health care. Rather, Hampton, having a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, owns Satori Learning Designs, Inc., and is "engaged full time in the field of restraint and management of aggressive or unruly individuals, including the training and instruction of others, as well as the development of progressive theory in the field." Seemingly recognizing that Hampton was unqualified to render an expert report for a health care liability claim, Simmons also requested, in her motion to compel, an extension of time to present TMC "with a sufficient expert report as authorized by" the medical liability statutes. According to Simmons, she could not serve a compliant expert report until she received TMC's policies and procedures.
In response, TMC filed a motion to dismiss on June 20, 2008, alleging that Simmons' causes of action were health care liability claims and that dismissal was mandatory as Simmons' expert report, being authored by an unqualified expert, was no report at all within the meaning of the statute, and therefore, she had failed to serve the statutorily required expert report within 120 days following the filing of her original petition. The hospital's prayer asked that "this matter" be dismissed with prejudice.
Simmons did not respond to the motion to dismiss, but she did file an amended petition. In it, she added a patient's bill of rights claim, asserting that the hospital failed to provide considerate and respectful care, failed to provide a humane treatment environment, and failed to provide appropriate treatment. She also alleged negligent undertaking, that is, that the hospital staff, in rendering services to Scruggs, failed to exercise reasonable care in restraining him for his protection. TMC did not amend its motion to dismiss to address these claims.
On September 3, 2008, the trial court held a hearing on the motion to compel, motion for extension, and motion to dismiss. There, TMC argued that Simmons' causes of action were health care liability claims, objected to Hampton's qualifications to render an expert report in such medical malpractice cases, and argued that because no "expert" report was timely served within the meaning of the statute, its policies and procedures were not subject to discovery and dismissal was mandatory. Simmons retorted that Scruggs' treatment was complete when he was restrained, and therefore, her causes of action were not health care liability claims. However, if the court found her actions to be the latter, Simmons requested an extension of time to serve an expert report so that she could obtain a "medical doctor [to] offer an opinion on causation." The trial court found Simmons' causes of action to be health care liability claims and that the report did not meet the statutory requirements. The trial court then denied Simmons' motion to compel and motion for extension, and dismissed the case.
Subsequently, Simmons filed a motion for new trial and request for clarification of the court's dismissal order. Specifically, Simmons was unsure whether the trial court's order encompassed her patient's bill of rights claim. The trial court entertained a hearing on the matter, and after hearing arguments, it clarified that the patient's bill of rights action was a health care liability claim and was dismissed at the dismissal hearing. On the motion for new trial, the trial court declined to change its previous rulings, but the court did not issue a written order. Consequently, the motion for new trial was overruled by operation of law.
Simmons now appeals raising four issues. In Issue One, Simmons contests the trial court's determination that her causes of action were health care liability claims. And in Issue Two, she alleges that the trial court improperly dismissed her patient's bill of rights claims sua sponte. Issue Three alleges violations of discovery, and Issue Four complains of the trial court's failure to grant her extension to serve a compliant expert report. We find no merit in any of the contentions raised.
Simmons' first issue contends that the trial court erred by characterizing her causes of action set out in her amended petition as health care liability claims subject to the requirements of Chapter 74 of the Civil Practices and Remedies Code.According to Simmons, Scruggs' injuries were not related to any medical care he received as a patient of TMC. Rather, she argues that the staff's actions of tackling Scruggs and restraining him on the floor were related to general safety procedures, which occurred after Scruggs' medical care was completed. Therefore, Simmons concludes that her causes of action fell beyond the scope of Chapter 74 as the staff's conduct was unrelated to any care pertaining to the medical problems that Scruggs was admitted to the hospital for. We disagree.
A cause of action against a health care provider, whether sounding in tort or contract, is a Chapter 74 health care liability claim if it is based on a claimed departure from an accepted standard of medical care, health care, safety, or professional or administrative services. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 74.001(a)(13) (Vernon 2005); Diversicare General Partner, Inc. v. Rubio, 185 S.W.3d 842 (Tex.2005); Wilson N. Jones Memorial Hospital v. Ammons, 266 S.W.3d 51, 55 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2008, pet. filed); NCED Mental Health, Inc. v. Kidd, 214 S.W.3d 28, 32 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2006, no pet.). Moreover, if the act or omission complained of is an inseparable part of the rendition of medical services, the cause of action is a health care liability claim as it has alleged a departure from accepted standards of medical or health care. Diversicare, 185 S.W.3d at 848; Ammons, 266 S.W.3d at 57; Kidd, 214 S.W.3d at 32-33.
In determining whether a cause of action is a health care liability claim under Chapter 74, we employ a de novo standard of review. See Ammons, 266 S.W.3d at 55; Kidd, 214 S.W.3d at 32 (). In so doing, we focus on the nature and essence of the claims rather than the way they were pleaded. Diversicare, 185 S.W.3d at 848; Ammons, 266 S.W.3d at 57; Kidd, 214 S.W.3d at 33. Indeed, a plaintiff cannot avoid the requirements of Chapter 74 by simply recasting a health care liability claim as a different cause of action through artful pleading. Diversicare, 185 S.W.3d at 851; Ammons, 266 S.W.3d at 57. Therefore, we look to the alleged wrongful conduct as well as the duties allegedly breached. Ammons, 266 S.W.3d at 57; Lee v. Boothe, 235 S.W.3d 448, 451 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2007, pet. denied). We also consider whether an expert is necessary to show a breach of...
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