Dallas Court of Appeals Affirms that Child-Placing Agency Is Not a “Health Care Provider”

March 14, 2016 in Case Summaries

Working closely with trial counsel from the Houston firm of Abraham Watkins, Jeff Levinger first persuaded the trial court to reconsider its dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the parents of a brain-damaged infant, and then convinced the Dallas Court of Appeals to uphold the trial court’s determination on rehearing that one of the two defendants is not a “health care provider” entitled to the protections of Chapter 74 of the Texas Medical Liability Act. In a thorough analysis of the Texas statutes and regulations governing Lutheran Social Services of the South  a child-placing agency that had placed the child with foster parents before the injury-causing incident  the Court held that LSSS had not met its burden of proving that it was “licensed, certified, registered, or chartered by the State of Texas to provide health care.” Meanwhile, the case against the second defendant, a home nursing company, is proceeding in the trial court, after Levinger also persuaded it to reconsider its previous ruling that the plaintiffs’ expert reports were inadequate under Chapter 74. Lutheran Social Services of the South, Inc. v. Blount, No. 05-15-00380-CV, 2016 WL 1019191 (Tex. App.-Dallas Mar. 14, 2016, pet. denied).

Courts: Texas Intermediate Appellate Courts
Subject Matter: Products Liability & Personal Injury

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