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Houston Medical Malpractice Lawyer
A medical malpractice case is not an ordinary injury claim. Texas law requires a qualified medical expert to review the case and put a breach of the standard of care in writing before it can even move forward — which is a large part of why most firms turn these cases away. I take them.
- No fee unless I win
- Free, no-obligation consultation
- Medical malpractice and hospital negligence cases
Why a medical malpractice case is not a typical injury case
In most injury cases, you file, you negotiate, and the facts largely speak for themselves. A medical malpractice case starts differently. Texas requires a qualified medical expert to review the records first and put in writing, before the case can proceed, that the standard of care was breached and that the breach caused the injury. That review takes real time and real money before a lawsuit is even filed — which is exactly why a large number of attorneys, including some well-known ones, simply do not take these cases. I do, and there is more about my background and how I work on my about page. Texas also applies strict, sometimes shorter deadlines in medical malpractice cases, and they can be more complicated to calculate than in an ordinary injury case.
If you are not sure whether what happened to you was a question about the medical care you received, or an unrelated injury that happened to occur at a hospital or clinic, call 281-888-8137 and I will help you work out which is which.
Why a medical malpractice case is a different case
Drew on the expert report Texas law requires before a case can move forward, and why the records need to be pulled and reviewed quickly.
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Medical malpractice cases take real work to get moving — records have to be requested and reviewed by a qualified expert before a case can even be filed. The sooner that starts, the better. Free, no obligation, and what you send here stays between us. If it is urgent, phone is faster — 281-888-8137.
Who can be held responsible
It is easy to assume the treating doctor is the only person who could be responsible. Often that is right. Often it is not — responsibility can reach the hospital itself, a specialist who was consulted, or a pharmacy that filled the order, and identifying all of them is part of the work.
The treating physician
A departure from what a reasonably prudent doctor in the same field would have done under the same circumstances.
The hospital or surgical center
Can be independently liable — for understaffing, poor supervision, or an employed nurse’s own error — separate from any doctor’s conduct.
A consulting specialist
Radiologists, pathologists and other specialists who read a scan or a result without ever meeting you can still be responsible for what they missed.
The pharmacy or pharmacist
A dispensing error, a missed interaction, or the wrong dose filled as written.
The anesthesiologist
A separate provider, often with a separate employer, who typically carries independent responsibility for what happens under anesthesia.
The insurers behind them
Hospital systems and physician groups carry substantial coverage, and each one has its own legal team from the start.
What you actually have to prove
Texas calls this a health care liability claim. People say medical negligence or medical malpractice and mean the same thing, and whichever name you use, four things have to be established before anyone owes you anything.
- A duty was owed
- Usually the easiest part. Once a doctor, nurse or hospital takes you on as a patient, a professional duty exists. It rarely gets argued about.
- The standard of care was breached
- This is the fight. The question is not whether the outcome was bad, it is whether the care fell below what a reasonably prudent provider in the same field would have done in the same circumstances. It is proved through a qualified expert, not through how you were treated or how you felt about it.
- The breach caused the harm
- The one that quietly defeats most cases. Sick people get worse for reasons that have nothing to do with the care they received. You have to show the injury came from the breach rather than from the underlying illness or an acknowledged risk of the procedure.
- There are damages
- Medical costs, lost earning capacity, future care, and the human cost of what happened. Without provable damages there is no claim worth bringing, however poor the care was.
A bad result on its own is not malpractice, and a signed consent form on its own is not a defense. Which side of that line a case sits on is usually a question of causation, and it is the first thing I look at. If you are trying to work out which side of that line your own situation falls on, I have written a longer piece on whether you can sue your doctor in Texas.
What has to happen before a medical malpractice case can move forward
This is the single biggest difference between a malpractice case and an ordinary injury case, and it is worth being specific about it. Texas does not let a medical malpractice claim proceed on the strength of a bad outcome alone. A qualified medical expert — practicing in the same or a similar field as the provider being sued — has to review the records and produce a written report establishing that the standard of care was breached and that the breach actually caused the injury.
- The expert report requirement
- Set out in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 74. Without an adequate report from a qualified expert, the case does not get to move forward.
- The 120-day clock
- The report generally has to be served within 120 days of each defendant filing an answer to the lawsuit. That is not a long runway once the case is filed — which means the record-gathering and expert review need to start well before then.
- What happens without one
- A case without an adequate report served on time is subject to dismissal. This is why a malpractice case cannot simply be filed and worked out later — the investigation has to come first.
- The damages cap
- Texas law places a cap on certain types of damages in medical malpractice cases, which is part of why case valuation works differently here than in an ordinary injury case.
Two things follow from that, and they pull against each other. The requirement filters out weak claims before they ever reach a courtroom, which is part of why a genuine case is worth taking seriously. And because a qualified expert has to review the full chart before anything can be filed, there is real upfront cost and real upfront work in every case — long before a defendant is ever served.
That is also the honest answer to why so few firms handle these cases. The work in front of the case is substantial, and it has to be done right the first time.
The expert report requirement and its deadline are set out in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 74.
What kind of case it is tells you where to look
How the injury happened usually narrows down who is responsible for it, and which records matter most, before anyone has seen a single chart.
Surgical error
Wrong site, a retained instrument or sponge, or damage to a structure that should have been avoided. Often the clearest cases, because the operative report and imaging tend to speak for themselves.
Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
A condition that was missed, or caught late, when the symptoms or test results should have pointed to it sooner. These turn on what a reasonable provider would have done with the same information at the time.
Medication or prescribing error
The wrong drug, the wrong dose, or a dangerous interaction that should have been caught — by the prescriber, the pharmacy, or both.
Birth injury
Failure to monitor fetal distress, a delayed cesarean, or improper use of delivery instruments. These cases carry their own timeline and their own set of specialists.
Anesthesia error
Dosing mistakes, failure to monitor vital signs during a procedure, or a delayed response to a complication under anesthesia.
Hospital-acquired infection or neglect
Points toward staffing levels, infection-control protocols, and how quickly a change in condition was actually responded to on the floor.
The evidence has a shelf life
A medical malpractice case is built almost entirely on paper — the chart, the imaging, the nursing notes, and the electronic record’s own audit trail, which can show who accessed or changed an entry and when. None of that is preserved automatically once a hospital or provider knows a claim may be coming, and the longer it takes to ask, the harder it becomes to reconstruct what actually happened on the floor that day.
How long you have to file a medical malpractice claim in Texas
Two years, and Texas is stricter about it here than in almost any other kind of injury case. How the Texas filing deadlines compare sets the medical rules against the ordinary ones. Under Section 74.251 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code the clock runs from the date of the breach, or from the date the course of treatment or the hospitalization the claim concerns was completed. It does not, on the face of the statute, run from the day you worked out that something had gone wrong.
| Situation | Deadline |
|---|---|
| An adult patient | Two years from the breach, or from the end of the treatment or hospitalization the claim concerns |
| A child under 12 | Until their 14th birthday |
| The outer limit on any claim | Ten years. Section 74.251(b) is written as a statute of repose, so that all claims must be brought within ten years or they are time barred |
| Once pre-suit notice is given | Limitations are tolled for a further 75 days under Section 74.051(c) |
That last row is the one people are surprised by, and it works in your favor. Texas requires written notice to each provider, by certified mail with the authorization form under Section 74.052, at least 60 days before suit is filed. Giving that notice tolls the deadline by 75 days, which in practice means two years plus a little over two months, provided the notice goes out properly and in time.
Texas courts have recognized a narrow constitutional exception where an injury genuinely could not have been discovered inside the period. It is narrow, it has to be argued, and it is not something to count on. If you think something went wrong, the safe assumption is that the two years started when the treatment ended.
Two years sounds generous until you price in what has to happen inside it. Records have to be requested and produced, a qualified expert in the right specialty has to read them and agree to put their name to a report, and the notice has to go out before suit. That is not a few weeks of work.
What Texas caps, and what it does not
Texas caps non-economic damages in these cases, which is the money for pain, suffering, disfigurement and loss of enjoyment of life. Section 74.301 sets the limits, and they apply per claimant rather than per defendant.
| Who the judgment is against | Non-economic damages limit |
|---|---|
| A physician or provider who is not an institution | $250,000 per claimant, no matter how many doctors or providers are sued |
| A single health care institution | $250,000 per claimant |
| More than one institution | $250,000 from each, up to $500,000 per claimant in total |
| Economic damages | Not capped |
Stacked at the maximum, a claim against a physician and more than one institution reaches $750,000 of non-economic damages. That is the ceiling on that category, and it is a large part of why so many firms will not take these cases: the work to build one is enormous and the upside on that line is fixed.
What the cap does not touch is often the larger number. Medical bills already incurred, the cost of future care, lost wages and lost earning capacity are economic damages and they sit outside the cap entirely. In a case involving a young person who will need care for decades, that figure can dwarf the capped portion, which is exactly why these cases have to be valued on the economics rather than on outrage.
What to do in the first week
Malpractice cases reward moving early more than almost any other kind of injury case, because the investigation has to happen before anything can be filed.
- 1
Request your complete medical records in writing
The full chart, not a summary — imaging, nursing notes, medication administration records, and anything else in the file. You are entitled to your own records. You can also check a provider’s Texas license and any public disciplinary history through the Texas Medical Board.
- 2
Write down your own timeline while it is fresh
What you were told, when, and by whom. What symptoms came before and after. Memory fades faster than most people expect, and this becomes hard to reconstruct even a few months out.
- 3
Do not sign anything from risk management yet
A hospital’s risk management department may reach out quickly, and they may be kind about it. They represent the hospital, not you. Talk to your own lawyer before signing anything.
- 4
A bad outcome is not automatically malpractice
Medicine carries real risk, and not every complication means someone was negligent. That is worth saying plainly — it is also exactly why a qualified expert needs to look at the file before anyone can say what actually happened.
- 5
Contact an attorney promptly
These cases require more upfront investigation than almost any other kind of injury claim. The sooner that review starts, the more options stay open.
Terms worth knowing in a Texas medical malpractice case
- Standard of care
- What a reasonably prudent provider in the same field would have done under the same or similar circumstances. Every malpractice case comes down to whether that standard was met.
- Chapter 74 expert report
- A written report from a qualified medical expert, required under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 74, establishing that the standard of care was breached and that the breach caused the injury. A case cannot move forward without one.
- 120-day deadline
- The window, generally running from each defendant’s answer to the lawsuit, within which the expert report has to be served. Missing it can get the case dismissed.
- Damages cap
- Texas law limits certain types of damages in medical malpractice cases. It is one of the reasons these cases are valued differently than an ordinary injury claim, and worth discussing directly rather than guessing at.
Why Houston medical malpractice cases are not like malpractice cases elsewhere
Houston is home to the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. That means an enormous volume of hospitals, specialty practices and academic medical centers operating in one part of the city — and it means a large share of the care Houstonians receive, including some of the most complex procedures anywhere, happens inside a small handful of very large systems.
The practical consequence for a malpractice case is that the defendant is rarely a single doctor working alone. It is frequently a large hospital system with its own risk management department, its own in-house and outside counsel, and years of experience defending exactly this kind of claim. That does not make a genuine case any less real. It does mean the investigation and the expert review have to be done carefully, because the other side will be organized from the start.
If you are not yet sure whether what happened was a departure from the standard of care, that is precisely what the expert review is for — and it is a question worth getting answered before too much time passes.
If the more pressing problem right now is how treatment gets paid for while a claim is open, a letter of protection is one way that is handled, and who pays medical bills after an injury in Texas covers the rest.
Where I practice
The office is in Houston and most cases are filed in Harris County, but a medical malpractice case can involve a hospital or provider anywhere across the metro. I handle cases across Fort Bend, Montgomery, Galveston, and Brazoria counties as well, wherever the care in question actually happened.
Houston’s concentration of large hospital systems means a claim often reaches beyond a single provider to the institution behind them. That does not put it out of reach; it does mean identifying and pursuing the right parties early, before the record gets harder to piece together.
If what happened to you was a crash rather than a question about medical care, Houston car accident cases and truck accident cases are covered on their own pages, and the full list is under practice areas.
Frequently asked questions
Does every bad medical outcome count as malpractice?
No. Medicine carries real risk, and a poor outcome by itself does not mean a provider was negligent. Malpractice means the care fell below what a reasonably prudent provider in the same field would have done — which is a question a qualified medical expert has to answer, not an assumption to start from.
What is the Chapter 74 expert report?
A written report from a qualified medical expert, required under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 74, showing that the standard of care was breached and that the breach caused the injury. A malpractice case cannot proceed without one.
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim in Texas?
Texas applies strict deadlines to medical malpractice claims, and they can be more complicated to calculate than in an ordinary injury case. The sooner you talk to an attorney, the sooner that timeline gets worked out for your specific situation.
What is the 120-day deadline?
Once a defendant has filed an answer to a malpractice lawsuit, the expert report generally has to be served within 120 days. Missing that deadline can get the case dismissed, which is why the investigation needs to start well before filing.
Are damages capped in Texas medical malpractice cases?
Texas law places a cap on certain types of damages in medical malpractice cases. That is part of why these cases are valued differently than an ordinary injury claim, and it is worth discussing directly rather than guessing.
Can I sue a hospital, not just a doctor?
Often, yes. A hospital or surgical center can be independently responsible — for understaffing, poor supervision, or an employed nurse’s own error — separate from any individual doctor’s conduct.
How much does it cost to bring a medical malpractice case?
My office handles these cases on contingency. There is no upfront fee, and you owe nothing unless I recover for you. The upfront investment in expert review is a cost my office carries, not something billed to you along the way.
Why do so few attorneys take these cases?
Because the expert report requirement makes them expensive and labor-intensive before a lawsuit is even filed. A qualified expert has to review the full record and be willing to put a breach of the standard of care in writing. That upfront cost and effort is real, which is why many firms decline to take medical malpractice cases at all.
What records will I need to gather?
The complete chart is the starting point — imaging, nursing notes, medication administration records, and the electronic record’s own audit trail. Requesting the full file in writing, early, is one of the most useful things you can do yourself.
Should I talk to the hospital's risk management department first?
Not before you have talked to your own lawyer. Risk management represents the hospital's interests, not yours, and you are under no obligation to sign anything they send you.
Client Reviews
The cases are bigger. The communication should not change.
A truck case brings in more parties, more evidence and more time than a car claim. These clients came through that process, and what they mention afterward is being kept informed while it ran.
From the beginning, Drew explained the entire process to me and it went exactly as he predicted. He always kept us updated and looked out for our best interest. Always gave us his advice while letting us make the decision.
I’m incredibly grateful for the support and dedication my attorney Mr. Shirley showed throughout my auto injury case. From the very beginning, they kept me informed, answered every question, and truly fought to make sure I was treated fairly.…
After my accident, I was overwhelmed, stressed, and unsure about what to do next.… Every time I had questions or felt anxious about the process, they were patient, reassuring, and always kept me updated.…
Where to find me
The office is at 4900 Woodway Drive, Suite 900, in Uptown Houston, just inside the 610 Loop. Most of this can be handled over the phone — but if you would rather sit down with the paperwork in front of you, the door is open.
Tell me what happened
The consultation is free, there is no obligation, and you will speak with an attorney — not a call center. If I take your case, you owe nothing unless I recover for you.