Year in Review: Health Care Law

The medical malpractice landscape changed for litigants in the wake of tort reform, and again in Texas West Oaks v. Williams, when the Texas Supreme Court allowed claims by certain non-patients as health care liability claims (HCLCs) under Chapter 74, spurring litigation over whether non-patient injuries that occurred at a health care facility are HCLCs. But, in May 2015, the Supreme Court decided Ross v. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, which clarified the definition of a HCLC and will prove relevant to both claimants and health care providers moving forward.

The Court held that a HCLC does not trigger Chapter 74′s provisions “just because the underlying occurrence took place in a health care facility, is against a health care provider, or both.” Instead, the Court concluded that a “substantive nexus” must exist between the safety standards allegedly violated and the provision of health care. The pivotal issue is whether the claim “implicate[s] the defendant’s duties as a health care provider,” including patient safety. While not drawing a bright-line rule, the Court provided a non-exclusive list of considerations to help answer, to some extent, the question of whether such a claim is substantively related to the healthcare provider’s care and is therefore a HCLC.