Losing a parent is one of the hardest things a family can go through. When that loss happens because of a preventable mistake inside a hospital, a missed diagnosis, a medication error, a surgical complication that should have been caught, or a delayed response to a clear emergency, the grief is compounded by anger, confusion, and often financial hardship. Texas law gives families specific, but limited, rights to hold a hospital or medical provider accountable when that happens. This article explains what those rights are and how they work.
What Counts as a Hospital Error
Hospital errors that lead to a patient’s death take many forms. Common examples include a delayed diagnosis of a heart attack, stroke, sepsis, or internal bleeding, medication errors such as administering the wrong drug or an incorrect dose, surgical mistakes, including operating on the wrong site or leaving a surgical instrument inside the body, failure to monitor a patient appropriately after surgery or during a hospital stay, and discharge of a patient who was not medically stable enough to go home.
Not every bad outcome is the result of an error. Some patients are simply too sick to survive, even with excellent care. The legal question is always whether the hospital and its staff met the standard of care that a reasonably careful provider in the same situation would have followed, and whether a departure from that standard caused or contributed to the death.
Two Types of Claims: Wrongful Death and Survival Actions
Texas law actually provides two related but distinct legal avenues when a hospital error causes a death. Understanding the difference matters because each type of claim compensates for different losses and is brought by different people.
A wrongful death claim, governed by Chapter 71 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, allows certain surviving family members to recover for the losses they personally suffered because of their parent’s death. Under Texas law, only the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased have the legal right to bring this kind of claim. This means that if a parent dies, their surviving spouse and children, including adult children, are the ones who may pursue a wrongful death action. Siblings, grandchildren, and other relatives generally do not have standing to bring this claim on their own, even when they were close to the person who died.
Damages in a wrongful death claim are meant to compensate the surviving family for what they lost, including loss of companionship and society, the emotional pain known as mental anguish, the loss of financial support the deceased would have provided, and the loss of the care, guidance, and household contributions the deceased would have continued to give.
A survival action, governed by section 71.021 of the same code, is a different claim entirely. It belongs to the deceased person’s estate rather than to the surviving family members directly, and it seeks to recover the damages the deceased could have claimed personally had they survived, such as medical expenses incurred before death, lost wages, and any conscious pain and suffering experienced between the time of the injury and the time of death. These two claims are frequently filed together in the same lawsuit, since they often arise from the same underlying hospital error.
Who Has the Right to File
If a deceased parent’s surviving spouse, children, or parents do not file a wrongful death claim within three months of the death, Texas law allows the personal representative of the deceased’s estate, typically the executor named in a will or an administrator appointed by the court, to file the claim instead, unless the family has specifically asked that no lawsuit be filed. Family members considering legal action should understand that the right to bring these claims is time limited. In most cases, a wrongful death claim must be filed within two years of the date of death, and missing that deadline generally bars the claim permanently, regardless of how strong the underlying case may be.
Why These Cases Require Extra Procedural Steps in Texas
When the hospital error involves medical care, which is true in the vast majority of these cases, Texas law layers on additional requirements beyond a standard wrongful death claim. These claims are classified as health care liability claims under the Texas Medical Liability Act, found in Chapter 74 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and that classification triggers specific procedural rules that do not apply to other types of wrongful death cases, such as a car accident or a defective product.
Before filing suit, the family must typically send written notice of the claim to each healthcare provider at least sixty days in advance. Once the lawsuit is filed, the family must serve a qualified expert report on each defendant within 120 days of that defendant’s answer, explaining the applicable standard of care, how it was violated, and how that violation caused the death. Failing to meet this deadline, or serving a report that a court finds inadequate, can result in the case being dismissed entirely, along with an order to pay the defendant’s attorney’s fees.
Because of these added layers, a family pursuing a claim involving a hospital error needs an attorney who understands both general wrongful death law and the specific procedural traps built into Texas medical malpractice law.
Damages Caps and What They Mean for Your Case
Texas law also limits the amount of certain damages that can be recovered in a medical malpractice related death. Noneconomic damages, which compensate for losses like mental anguish and loss of companionship, are capped under section 74.301 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. In a wrongful death and survival case involving medical care, there is also a separate, inflation adjusted cap on the combined total of certain damages, which currently sits well above one and a half million dollars and rises gradually each year as it is adjusted for cost of living changes.
Economic damages, including the deceased’s lost future earnings and any medical and custodial care expenses incurred before death, are generally not subject to these caps and can be recovered in full when properly proven. Because the cap structure is complex and depends on how many providers and institutions are involved, an experienced attorney can help your family understand what a case may realistically be worth before deciding how to proceed.
What This Means for Your Family
If you lost your mother or father because of an error inside a Texas hospital, you have a limited window of time and a specific set of legal rights to pursue accountability and compensation. The process involves real procedural complexity, from the list of who can sue, to pre-suit notice requirements, to expert report deadlines and damages caps, all of which make experienced legal guidance especially important.
| Speak With Anunobi Law PLLCAnunobi Law PLLC, operating as businessandfamilylawyers.com, represents families across Texas, including Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio, in wrongful death and survival actions arising from hospital errors and medical negligence. The firm offers a confidential case review to help you understand whether your parent’s death may have resulted from preventable medical negligence and what your legal options are. You can reach the firm at 832-538-0833. |
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship with Anunobi Law PLLC. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed Texas attorney.