| 1 | 1 | | By: Estes S.B. No. 1521 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the determination of expert reports in a health care |
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| 7 | 7 | | liability claim for the purposes of certain laws governing those |
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| 8 | 8 | | claims. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 74.001(a)(13), Civil Practice and |
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| 11 | 11 | | Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (13) "Health care liability claim" means a cause of |
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| 13 | 13 | | action against a health care provider or physician for treatment, |
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| 14 | 14 | | lack of treatment, or other claimed departure from accepted |
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| 15 | 15 | | standards of medical care, or health care, or safety or |
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| 16 | 16 | | professional or administrative services directly related to health |
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| 17 | 17 | | care, which proximately results in injury to or death of a claimant, |
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| 18 | 18 | | whether the claimant's claim or cause of action sounds in tort or |
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| 19 | 19 | | contract. The term does not include a cause of action described by |
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| 20 | 20 | | Section 406.033(a) or 408.001(b), Labor Code, against an employer |
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| 21 | 21 | | by an employee or the employee's surviving spouse or heir. |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 2. Section 74.351(a), Civil Practice and Remedies |
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| 23 | 23 | | Code, is amended to read as follows: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (a) In a health care liability claim, a claimant |
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| 25 | 25 | | shall, not later than the 120th day after the date each defendant's |
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| 26 | 26 | | original answer if filed, serve on that party or the party's |
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| 27 | 27 | | attorney one or more expert reports, with a curriculum vitae of each |
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| 28 | 28 | | expert listed in the report for each physician or health care |
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| 29 | 29 | | provider against whom a liability claim is asserted. The report |
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| 30 | 30 | | shall address at least one theory of direct liability asserted |
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| 31 | 31 | | against each physician or health care provider if a direct theory of |
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| 32 | 32 | | liability is asserted. The date for serving the report may be |
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| 33 | 33 | | extended by written agreement of the affected parties. Each |
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| 34 | 34 | | defendant physician or health care provider whose conduct is |
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| 35 | 35 | | implicated in a report must file and serve any objection to the |
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| 36 | 36 | | sufficiency of the report not later than the later of the 21st day |
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| 37 | 37 | | after the date the report is served or the 21st day after the date |
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| 38 | 38 | | the defendant's answer is filed, failing which all objections are |
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| 39 | 39 | | waived. |
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| 40 | 40 | | SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 41 | 41 | | to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of |
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| 42 | 42 | | this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date |
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| 43 | 43 | | of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the cause of action |
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| 44 | 44 | | immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is |
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| 45 | 45 | | continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 46 | 46 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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