Foster v. Zavala

214 S.W.3d 106, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 10887, 2006 WL 3742788
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 21, 2006
Docket11-05-00315-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 214 S.W.3d 106 (Foster v. Zavala) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Foster v. Zavala, 214 S.W.3d 106, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 10887, 2006 WL 3742788 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

TERRY McCALL, Justice.

This is an appeal from the trial court’s denial of a motion to dismiss a medical malpractice claim. See Tex. Civ. PeaC. & Rem.Code ANN. § 74.351 (Vernon Supp. 2006). In the motion to dismiss, the executor for the estate of Dr. Niles Reid Foster, a podiatrist, requested that the health care liability claim against Dr. Foster be dismissed because Margarita B. Zavala’s expert, Alan C. Leshnower, M.D., a cardiovascular surgeon, was not qualified to offer an expert opinion on the accepted standard of care for a podiatrist as required by Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 74.402 (Vernon 2005). The trial court denied the motion, and the executor for Dr. Foster’s estate filed this interlocutory appeal pursuant to Tex. Crv. Peac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(9) (Vernon Supp.2006). We reverse and remand.

Background Facts

Zavala went to see Dr. Poster because she was having problems with her feet. In December 2002, Dr. Foster performed surgery on Zavala’s left foot to remove neuro-mas. 1 Because her foot did not heal, Zava-la went to see Alan C. Leshnower, M.D., a cardiovascular surgeon, who observed that there was gangrene on the toes of her left foot. Dr. Leshnower determined that Za- *109 vala had chronic vascular disease, diabetes, and inadequate blood flow to her feet. Dr. Leshnower performed vascular surgery, a femoral tibial bypass, on Zavala in February 2003. According to Dr. Leshnower, his surgery corrected Zavala’s blood flow problem, but she then had four toes amputated by another doctor.

Prior to Zavala bringing this suit, Dr. Foster died. Zavala sued the executor of his estate alleging that Dr. Foster failed to properly diagnose her condition, failed to properly treat her condition, and performed unnecessary surgery in a negligent manner. Zavala further alleged that Dr. Foster’s unnecessary and negligent surgeries caused irreparable harm to her foot. Zavala filed the report of her medical expert Dr. Leshnower as required by Section 74.351.

In his report, Dr. Leshnower set forth his reasons why Zavala’s foot problems were the result of diminished blood flow, not the neuromas. According to Dr. Lesh-nower, Dr. Foster should have confirmed whether there was adequate blood flow to Zavala’s foot by conducting non-invasive testing such as segmental artery studies. Dr. Leshnower stated that Zavala “had an improper workup by Dr. Foster and evaluation of her vascular status” and that the surgery on her foot was improper because “the last thing a diabetic patient with vascular disease needs is unnecessary surgical intervention.” Dr. Leshnower concluded that, but for Dr. Foster’s negligence in diagnosing and treating Zavala, Zavala’s toe amputations and subsequent disability, pain, and impairment would have been avoided.

Appellant filed a motion to dismiss Zava-la’s suit, arguing that Dr. Leshnower’s expert report failed to comply with the requirements of Sections 74.351 and 74.402 that Zavala’s expert must practice health care in a field of practice that involves the same type of care and treatment as that delivered by Dr. Foster, a podiatrist. Appellant asserted that neither Dr. Leshnower’s report nor his curriculum vitae demonstrated that Dr. Leshnower was qualified to opine on the standard of care for Dr. Foster.

Standard of Review

A trial court’s ruling on a motion to dismiss a health care liability claim is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Am. Transitional Care Ctrs. of Tex., Inc. v. Palacios, 46 S.W.3d 873, 877-78 (Tex.2001); Kendrick v. Garcia, 171 S.W.3d 698, 702-03 (Tex.App.-Eastland 2005, pet. den’d) (applying the abuse of discretion standard from Palacios, which dealt with a former health care liability statute, to the denial of a motion to dismiss under Section 74.351). A trial court abuses its discretion if it acts in an arbitrary or unreasonable manner or without reference to any guiding rules or principles. Downer v. Aquamarine Operators, Inc., 701 S.W.2d 238, 241-42 (Tex.1985). In determining whether an expert report constitutes a good-faith attempt to comply with the statute, a trial court is limited to a review of the four corners of the report. Palacios, 46 S.W.3d at 878.

Texas Medical Liability Act

In 2003, the Texas Legislature enacted the Texas Medical Liability Act making significant changes in the requirements for medical malpractice cases. See Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. ch. 74 (Vernon 2005 & Supp.2006); In re Huag, 175 S.W.3d 449 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2005, no pet.); Group v. Vicento, 164 S.W.3d 724, 727 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2005, pet’n filed). The legislation enacting Chapter 74 listed a number of findings regarding the then current state of health care in Texas. Those findings included *110 determinations that the number of health care liability claims (frequency) had increased since 1995 inordinately, that the filing of legitimate health care liability claims in Texas was a contributing factor affecting medical professional liability rates, that the amounts being paid out by insurers in judgments and settlements (severity) had likewise increased inordinately in the same short period, that the situation had created a medical malpractice insurance crisis in Texas, and that the crisis had had a material adverse effect on the delivery of medical and health care in Texas.

Because of the conditions found by the legislature to have created the medical malpractice insurance crisis in Texas, the legislature stated that it was the purpose of Chapter 74 to improve and modify the system by which health care liability claims are determined in order to reduce excessive frequency and severity of health care liability claims through reasonable improvements and modifications in the Texas insurance, tort, and medical practice systems; to decrease the cost of those claims and ensure that awards are rationally related to actual damages; and to do so in a manner that 'will not unduly restrict a claimant’s rights any more than necessary to deal with the crisis. Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 74.001 historical note (Vernon 2005) [Act of June 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 204, § 10.11, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 847, 884-85],

Our review of the statutory provisions of Chapter 74 begins with the plain and common meaning of the words. McIntyre v. Ramirez, 109 S.W.3d 741, 745 (Tex.2003). We must consider the statute as a whole, rather than analyze a provision in isolation. Tex. Dep’t of Transp. v. City of Sunset Valley,

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326 S.W.3d 685 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)
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310 S.W.3d 543 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
214 S.W.3d 106, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 10887, 2006 WL 3742788, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/foster-v-zavala-texapp-2006.