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Marquez v. Providence Memorial Hospital Tenet Healthcare Corp.9/27/2001
Ophelia Marquez appeals from an order dismissing her suit against Providence Memorial Hospital (Providence), Tenet Healthcare Corporation (Tenet), and Jacob Vigil, M.D. (Vigil) for failure to comply with the requirements of Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 4590i, ยง 13.01(d)(Vernon Pamph. 1999). We affirm.
FACTUAL SUMMARY
On July 17, 1996, Ophelia Marquez underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery performed by Dr. William Wade at Providence Memorial Hospital. In the two days following surgery, Marquez suffered from pain and nausea and she relayed those complaints to Dr. Wade in person and by telephone. She went to Providence's Emergency Department on July 19, 1996, complaining of bilateral shoulder pain. The Emergency Department physician, Dr. Jacob Vigil, ordered a chest x-ray and injection of a pain killer, and then released Marquez. On July 25, 1996, Marquez was admitted to Providence with pain and diabetic ketoacidosis. It was then discovered that she had suffered a complete transection of the hepatic duct during surgery with resulting peritonitis and septic shock. Marquez was stabilized and transferred to Houston for emergency surgery to repair the severed biliary duct.
On April 10, 1998, Marquez filed a medical malpractice suit against Dr. Wade. Following amendment of her petition on June 5, 1998, she timely filed an expert report by Palmer H. White, M.D., and curriculum vitae. Marquez filed a second amended petition on July 16, 1998, alleging causes of action against Providence, Tenet, and Dr. Vigil. In her claim against Providence, she alleged negligence for the hospital's failure to provide fluoroscopy during surgery, and additionally, negligence related to the post-surgical visit to the Emergency Department. Marquez did not file an expert report and C.V. pertaining to these additional defendants until February 3, 1999, which is 202 days after she filed the second amended petition. On that date, she filed the expert report and C.V. of T. Lawrence Huffman, M.D., which addressed the emergency room care provided by Providence. Providence and Tenet filed a motion to dismiss and for sanctions on June 14, 1999. In addition to her response to the motion to dismiss, Marquez filed an unverified motion for grace period on June 23, 1999. On July 1, 1999, the trial court conducted a hearing on the motion to dismiss. Near the conclusion of the hearing, Marquez filed directly with the trial court an amended response and verified motion for grace period. The trial court took the motion to dismiss under advisement. On July 9, 1999, Marquez filed an expert report of Helen M. Castillo, R.N. which addressed the failure of the Emergency Department nurse and physician to contact Dr. Wade when Marquez arrived at the ER on July 19, 1996.
On July 14, 1999, Dr. Vigil filed a motion to dismiss and for sanctions because Marquez had not timely filed an expert report pertaining specifically to the cause of action alleged against him. Marquez responded with a verified motion for grace period pursuant to Section 13.01(g). On July 27, Dr. Vigil also filed a motion to strike Nurse Castillo's report not only due to its untimeliness but also because it failed to state the standard of care applicable to him, failed to show how he violated the standard of care, and did not establish a causal connection between the alleged breach and the injury. The trial court conducted a hearing on those motions on August 31, 1999, and once again, took the issues under advisement for several months.
On April 28, 2000, the trial court found that Marquez had not timely filed her motion for grace period, dismissed her causes of action against Providence and Tenet, and awarded attorney's fees a
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