Personal Injury Law

Texas Supreme Court Weighs Malpractice Case

By Edward Bills

A malpractice lawsuit was filed in 2007 against a Texas doctor who was delivering babies while addicted to Valium and hydrocodone. However, when the lawsuit was filed, Dr. Howard Offenbach suddenly disappeared, and has yet to be found. The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week claiming that the 120-day limit to serve a defendant in a malpractice suit is allowing Offenbach to escape liability because nobody, even his own lawyers, can locate him. The Texas malpractice law does not allow for any extensions of the 120-day deadline, but lawyers for the plaintiff argued to the Supreme Court that not granting the woman her day in court would be in violation of the state Constitution. Justice Dale Wainwright expressed concern over the court’s dilemma, noting that “one one hand, we don’t want defendants dodging or hiding to let the 120 days lapse. On the other hand, we don’t want claimants to be lax in any way when the Legislature used this kind of strict rule.”

Full post as published by Bodily Injury Blog on March 29, 2010 (boomark / email).