Malpractice Claim for Crash Injuries Treated Badly

Attorney Answer

It can, but treat it as a second and much harder case rather than an extension of the crash claim. A claim against a hospital in Texas is a health care liability claim, and that category comes with its own limitations period, a 10-year outer cutoff, a cap on certain damages, and a 120-day expert report requirement that ends cases outright. This is the one situation where the cost of waiting to speak to a lawyer is measured in the whole claim.

Start with the two clocks, because they are not the same. The claim against the driver is governed by Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a), which allows two years from the day the cause of action accrues. The claim against the hospital is governed by § 74.251(a): "Notwithstanding any other law and subject to Subsection (b), no health care liability claim may be commenced unless the action is filed within two years from the occurrence of the breach or tort or from the date the medical or health care treatment that is the subject of the claim or the hospitalization for which the claim is made is completed; provided that, minors under the age of 12 years shall have until their 14th birthday in which to file, or have filed on their behalf, the claim." Subsection (b) adds a statute of repose: no health care liability claim may be brought later than 10 years after the act or omission, whatever else is true. Which starting point applies to your arm — the day of the treatment, or the day the hospitalization was completed — is a legal question with a real answer in your records.

The requirement that ends most unprepared claims is the expert report. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.351(a) provides: "In a health care liability claim, a claimant shall, not later than the 120th day after the date each defendant's original answer is filed or a later date required under Section 74.353, serve on that party or the party's attorney one or more expert reports, with a curriculum vitae of each expert listed in the report for each physician or health care provider against whom a liability claim is asserted." If that is not served in time, § 74.351(b) requires the court, on the defendant's motion, to award that defendant its reasonable attorney's fees and court costs and to dismiss the claim with prejudice. Section 74.351(c) allows the court to grant one 30-day extension where a report was served but found deficient. In practice this means a qualified physician has to review your records and write a report before the case can survive, and that takes months to arrange.

There is also a ceiling on part of the recovery. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.301, noneconomic damages are capped at $250,000 against physicians and health care providers, $250,000 against a single health care institution, and $500,000 against all institutions. These figures are fixed in the statute, with no inflation adjustment, and the cap addresses noneconomic damages rather than economic losses such as medical costs and lost earnings.

What you can do

1. Request your complete records from that hospital in writing today, and separately from every provider who has seen the arm since. Ask for imaging as well as notes. Records requests take weeks, and everything downstream depends on them.

2. Get evaluated now by a doctor who can document what is currently wrong with the arm and what treatment it needs.

3. Keep the crash claim moving separately. Notify the at-fault driver's insurer and your own, and keep the two matters distinct in your correspondence.

4. Put every bill, appointment date and out-of-pocket cost in one file, and note the days of work you have lost.

5. Do not sign a release or a global settlement with any insurer before a lawyer has told you whether it could reach the hospital claim.

6. Speak to a Texas attorney who handles health care liability claims, and do it in weeks rather than months, because of the report requirement above. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Two different statutes run here. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) gives two years from accrual for the claim against the driver. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.251(a) governs the claim against the hospital, with the 10-year repose in § 74.251(b) behind it, and § 74.351(a) then imposes the 120-day expert report deadline once suit is under way. Which dates apply to you depends on your treatment records, and no page can compute them. Have a Texas attorney review the dates now.