Medical Malpractice Attorneys

The Hippocratic Oath obligates physicians and other medical providers to “do no harm.” When that obligation is breached — through a missed diagnosis, a surgical error, a medication mistake, an avoidable birth injury, or substandard nursing home care — the patient and their family are left to live with the consequences. Sometimes those consequences are temporary. Sometimes they last a lifetime. Sometimes they end one

Medical malpractice litigation is demanding work that requires more than legal skill. It requires the ability to read, interpret, and challenge complex medical records, understand clinical decision-making, and evaluate expert opinions across multiple specialties. At Anunobi Law, we bring that capability in-house. Our team includes a board-certified OB-GYN physician who works directly alongside our attorneys on case evaluation and case development, with particular depth in birth injury and obstetric negligence cases. That combination of legal and clinical expertise shapes how we investigate cases, how we select experts, and how we present our clients’ stories to juries.

We handle medical malpractice cases throughout Texas and across the country, with a significant presence serving clients in Georgia, Colorado, and Alabama. Our cases involve catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. If you or someone you love has suffered a life-altering injury because a medical provider failed to meet the standard of care, we want to hear from you. You pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover for you.

Free consultation: 832-538-0833 or 1-855-538-0863

What Medical Malpractice Is and What It Requires

A bad medical outcome is not the same as malpractice. Doctors, hospitals, and other providers are not guarantors of good results. Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider fails to meet the standard of care that a reasonably competent provider in the same field and circumstances would have met, and that failure causes harm to the patient.

A viable medical malpractice case requires four elements, all of which must be present:

• Duty. A doctor-patient relationship existed, meaning the provider owed the patient a legal duty of care.
• Breach. The provider’s conduct fell below the applicable standard of care. The standard is not perfection; it is what a competent practitioner in that specialty would have done under the same or similar circumstances.
• Causation. The breach of the standard of care caused the patient’s injury. This is often the most contested element. The patient must establish that the provider’s failure, not the underlying condition or an unavoidable complication, was the cause of the harm.
• Damages. The patient suffered real harm as a result. Because medical malpractice cases are expensive to litigate and require substantial expert witness investment, recoverable damages must be meaningful to justify the cost of the case. We focus our practice on cases involving catastrophic injuries, permanent disability, and wrongful death.

Our In-House Board-Certified OB-GYN Physician

Many law firms retain medical consultants on an ad hoc basis. At Anunobi Law, our approach is different. We have a board-certified OB-GYN physician as part of our team. That means when a potential client contacts us about a birth injury, a maternal complication, a delayed C-section, or an obstetric error, our initial case review is conducted with direct physician input, not just legal analysis.

Having a physician embedded in the legal team changes the quality of the case evaluation. We can identify departures from obstetric standards of care that a non-clinical reviewer might miss. We know the difference between a complication that represents negligence and one that represents a known risk of a procedure performed correctly. We can identify the right experts early, ask the right questions in discovery, and understand the clinical significance of what the records show.

This depth is particularly important in birth injury cases, which are among the most complex and high-stakes cases in medical malpractice. See the section below on birth injury and obstetric negligence for more detail.

The Cases We Handle Catastrophic Injuries and Wrongful Death

Medical malpractice cases are expensive to litigate. A case that proceeds through expert discovery and trial routinely requires tens of thousands of dollars in expert witness fees alone, before accounting for court costs, litigation expenses, and attorney time. Cases with modest damages do not justify that investment, and we believe it would be a disservice to a client to pursue a case where the likely recovery would be consumed by litigation costs.

We focus on cases where the harm is serious and the damages are substantial. The cases we handle typically involve one or more of the following:

• Permanent physical disability or loss of function
• Traumatic brain injury with lasting cognitive or neurological impairment
• Birth injuries resulting in lifelong care needs
• Conditions requiring ongoing medical treatment, rehabilitation, or assisted living
• Loss of the ability to work or earn a living
• Wrongful death, including loss of consortium and survival claims

If you are unsure whether your case meets this threshold, contact us for a case evaluation. We will be direct with you about whether we think your case is one we can pursue effectively and whether the damages are likely to justify the litigation.

Birth Injury and Obstetric Negligence

Birth injury cases are among the most serious matters in medical malpractice. When negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery causes harm to a mother or baby, the consequences can last a lifetime. Our in-house OB-GYN physician brings specialized clinical knowledge to every birth injury and obstetric case we evaluate.

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)

HIE occurs when a baby’s brain is deprived of oxygen during or around the time of birth. It is one of the most serious birth injuries and a leading cause of cerebral palsy, developmental delays, seizure disorders, and cognitive impairment. HIE is frequently caused by a failure to recognize fetal distress, a delay in performing a necessary C-section, or mismanagement of labor complications including umbilical cord prolapse, placental abruption, and uterine rupture.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy resulting from birth injury is a permanent condition affecting movement, muscle control, and coordination. When cerebral palsy is caused by preventable oxygen deprivation or birth trauma, the family may have a medical malpractice claim. These cases require detailed review of fetal heart rate tracings, delivery records, and neonatal records to establish the timeline of injury and the departures from obstetric standards of care.

Delayed or Failure to Perform C-Section

When fetal monitoring indicates distress and the obstetric team fails to perform a timely C-section, the resulting oxygen deprivation can cause permanent brain injury or death. The standard of care requires obstetric teams to recognize the signs of fetal distress and act within defined time parameters. Delays attributable to communication failures, understaffing, or failure to read and respond to fetal heart rate tracings are actionable.

Shoulder Dystocia and Birth Trauma

Shoulder dystocia occurs when a baby’s shoulder becomes impacted during delivery. Improper management using excessive traction can cause brachial plexus injuries, including Erb’s palsy, which affects use of the arm and hand. In severe cases, improper management can cause oxygen deprivation and brain injury. There are established obstetric maneuvers for managing shoulder dystocia; failure to use them correctly is a recognized form of negligence.

Maternal Injuries and Complications

Obstetric negligence also encompasses injuries to the mother, including unrecognized hemorrhage, failure to diagnose and treat preeclampsia or eclampsia, uterine rupture, surgical injuries during C-section, and maternal death. Maternal mortality in the United States remains higher than in comparable countries, and a significant portion of maternal deaths are preventable with appropriate clinical management.

Neonatal Sepsis and Infection

Failure to recognize and treat Group B Streptococcus infection, chorioamnionitis, or other perinatal infections can result in neonatal sepsis and serious brain injury. The protocols for GBS screening and prophylaxis are well-established, and departures from those protocols that result in infant harm are actionable.

Stroke Malpractice

Stroke is a medical emergency in which time is the most critical variable. The phrase used in stroke medicine is “time is brain,” reflecting the fact that every minute of delayed treatment results in additional neurological damage. Medical malpractice in stroke cases most commonly involves failure to recognize stroke symptoms, failure to order appropriate imaging, failure to administer tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) within the treatment window, and failure to arrange appropriate emergency intervention for hemorrhagic stroke or large vessel occlusion.

We also handle cases involving the failure to diagnose conditions that predispose a patient to stroke, including atrial fibrillation and carotid artery disease, where proper anticoagulation or surgical intervention could have prevented the event. Stroke that results in permanent disability, loss of speech, paralysis, or death with a demonstrable departure from the standard of care is the type of case we evaluate.

Traumatic Brain Injury Caused by Medical Negligence

Traumatic brain injury in the medical context can result from a range of negligent acts: anesthesia errors that cause oxygen deprivation, delayed treatment of a brain bleed or expanding hematoma, failure to manage intracranial pressure after trauma or surgery, or mismanagement of a patient with a known neurological emergency. The consequences of a medically caused TBI are the same as those from any other cause: cognitive impairment, personality changes, loss of executive function, memory deficits, seizure disorders, and in severe cases a permanent vegetative state.

These cases are complex because they require establishing not just that the patient has a brain injury, but that the specific injury would not have occurred, or would have been less severe, with appropriate medical care. Neurological and neuropsychological expert testimony is central to these cases.

Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis

A missed or delayed diagnosis of a serious condition can be just as harmful as a mistake in treatment. When a physician fails to diagnose a condition that a reasonably competent physician would have identified, and that failure allows the condition to progress to a point where the patient suffers avoidable harm, the physician may be liable for the consequences.

Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis cases we handle include:

• Cancer misdiagnosis or delayed cancer diagnosis, including missed findings on imaging studies, failure to follow up on abnormal test results, and failure to biopsy
• Missed myocardial infarction in the emergency room or outpatient setting
• Delayed diagnosis of meningitis, sepsis, or other rapidly progressing infections
• Failure to diagnose pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis
• Missed diagnoses of appendicitis, ectopic pregnancy, and other acute abdominal emergencies
• Delayed diagnosis of stroke as described in the section above

The key legal question in delayed diagnosis cases is what a timely diagnosis would have changed. Where earlier treatment would have resulted in cure, prevented progression, or extended survival, the physician’s failure to diagnose is actionable. Where the outcome would have been the same regardless, there is no recoverable damage.

Surgical Errors

Surgery carries inherent risk, but not every bad surgical outcome is malpractice. A surgical error is a preventable mistake that falls below the standard of care a competent surgeon would have met under the same circumstances. When a surgical error causes serious injury, additional surgery, permanent disability, or death, the patient and family may have a viable claim against the surgeon, the surgical team, and in some cases the hospital.

Surgical malpractice cases we evaluate include:

• Wrong-site, wrong-side, wrong-patient, or wrong-procedure surgery, which are considered never events under patient safety standards
• Retained surgical instruments, sponges, or other foreign objects left inside the patient
• Injury to adjacent organs, nerves, blood vessels, or structures that a competent surgeon would have identified and protected
• Failure to recognize and respond to intraoperative complications, including uncontrolled bleeding and bowel or vascular injury
• Performing a procedure for which the surgeon lacks adequate training, experience, or credentialing
• Failure to obtain proper informed consent, including failure to disclose material risks, alternatives, and the surgeon’s own experience with the procedure
• Failure to recognize and treat post-operative complications, including infection, internal bleeding, anastomotic leak, and compartment syndrome
• Robotic and laparoscopic surgical injuries caused by improper technique or inadequate visualization

Surgical malpractice cases often turn on what the operative report says, what it leaves out, and what the imaging, pathology, and follow-up records reveal about the actual conduct of the procedure. We work with experienced surgical experts in the relevant specialty to evaluate whether the standard of care was met and whether a departure from that standard caused the injury.

Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia errors can have catastrophic consequences, including brain damage, cardiac arrest, and death. Anesthesiology is a specialty with well-defined protocols and monitoring standards, and departures from those standards that cause patient harm are among the most serious forms of medical negligence.

Anesthesia malpractice cases we evaluate include:

• Failure to review the patient’s medical history, medications, and known allergies before administering anesthesia
• Overdose or underdose of anesthetic agents causing awareness under anesthesia or cardiorespiratory complications
• Failure to monitor oxygen saturation and ventilation during a procedure
• Delayed recognition and management of airway complications
• Intubation errors resulting in esophageal intubation and hypoxia
• Failure to manage malignant hyperthermia or other anesthetic emergencies
• Post-operative over-sedation leading to respiratory arrest

Emergency Room Errors

Emergency departments operate under pressure and at volume. That context does not lower the standard of care; it defines it. Emergency physicians are trained to triage and treat a wide range of acute conditions, and the standard of care accounts for the emergency setting. When an emergency physician or nurse fails to meet that standard and a patient is harmed as a result, the case is actionable.

Emergency room malpractice cases commonly involve:

• Failure to recognize and treat a heart attack, including failure to perform or interpret an EKG in a timely manner
• Missed stroke diagnosis and failure to administer tPA within the treatment window
• Failure to diagnose sepsis and initiate the sepsis protocol
• Premature discharge of a patient whose condition has not been adequately stabilized
• Failure to obtain appropriate surgical or specialist consultation
• Medication errors in the emergency setting, including incorrect dosing and failure to check for contraindications
• Failure to perform appropriate imaging for trauma patients

Medication Errors

Medication errors occur at the prescribing, dispensing, and administration stages of care and are among the most common forms of preventable medical harm. A physician who prescribes the wrong drug, the wrong dose, or fails to account for a known drug interaction can be liable for the resulting harm. A pharmacist who dispenses the wrong medication or fails to identify a dangerous interaction has their own professional obligations. Nursing staff who administer the wrong medication or fail to follow the five rights of medication administration are also potentially liable.

Medication error cases we handle include:

• Prescribing errors involving contraindicated medications or dangerous drug combinations
• Dosing errors that result in toxicity, overdose, or therapeutic failure
• Dispensing errors by hospital or retail pharmacies
• Failure to monitor therapeutic drug levels for medications with narrow safety margins
• Administration of the wrong medication or by the wrong route of administration
• Failure to adjust medications for renal or hepatic impairment

Hospital Negligence

Hospitals are not passive settings in which independent physicians practice. They have their own obligations to patients: to staff appropriately, to credentialize competent physicians, to maintain safe facilities, to implement and enforce safety protocols, and to supervise the care provided within their walls. When a hospital’s own failures cause patient harm, the hospital can be held directly liable.

Hospital negligence claims include:

• Negligent credentialing of physicians with known histories of malpractice or disciplinary action
• Inadequate nurse-to-patient staffing ratios that result in failure to monitor patients appropriately
• Failure to implement or enforce infection control protocols, resulting in hospital-acquired infections
• Defective or improperly maintained equipment
• Failure to respond to patient deterioration, including failure to activate rapid response protocols
• Patient falls resulting from failure to implement fall prevention measures for high-risk patients
• Nursing home and long-term care facility negligence, including pressure ulcers, malnutrition, and medication errors

Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a serious neurological condition caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. It is preventable and treatable if recognized early. The Wernicke phase presents with the classic triad of encephalopathy, oculomotor dysfunction, and ataxia. When it goes unrecognized and untreated, it can progress to Korsakoff syndrome, a chronic and largely irreversible condition characterized by profound memory loss, confabulation, and permanent cognitive impairment.

WKS most commonly affects patients who are hospitalized for alcohol-related conditions, malnutrition, bariatric surgery, prolonged intravenous feeding without thiamine supplementation, hyperemesis gravidarum, and other conditions that deplete thiamine. The standard of care for at-risk patients is well established: administer thiamine prophylactically. The failure to do so when the patient is at risk, and the failure to recognize and treat early Wernicke encephalopathy with high-dose intravenous thiamine, are documented departures from the standard of care that can result in permanent neurological disability.

WKS malpractice cases are a specific area of focus at our firm. They frequently arise in hospital settings, and the resulting harm, permanent amnesia and cognitive disability, is severe and lifelong. These are exactly the types of cases we are positioned to handle.

Wrongful Death and Survival Claims

When medical negligence causes death, the deceased’s family has a legal right to pursue compensation through a wrongful death action. Texas, Georgia, Colorado, and Alabama each have their own wrongful death statutes, but all four states allow surviving family members to recover for the losses they have suffered as a result of the death.

In Texas, a wrongful death claim may be brought by the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased. Recoverable damages include the financial support the deceased would have provided over their lifetime, loss of companionship and consortium, loss of inheritance, mental anguish, and funeral and burial expenses. In addition to the wrongful death claim, a survival action may be brought on behalf of the deceased’s estate for damages the deceased personally suffered before death, including pain and suffering and medical expenses incurred after the negligent act.

Wrongful death cases arising from medical negligence are among the most complex in our practice. They require establishing the standard of care, the departure from that standard, causation, and the full scope of economic and non-economic losses suffered by the family. We bring the same combination of legal and clinical depth to these cases that we bring to catastrophic injury cases.

Where We Practice

Our firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas, where we have deep roots in the local federal and state courts. We regularly represent clients in cases filed in Texas state courts and in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and other districts of Texas.

We also handle medical malpractice cases in Georgia, Colorado, and Alabama. Medical malpractice law varies by state, including differences in damage caps, expert affidavit requirements, and statutes of limitations. Our experience practicing across these jurisdictions means we understand those differences and structure our cases accordingly.

If you are in a state not listed here and your case involves serious injuries or wrongful death caused by medical negligence, contact us. Depending on the facts of the case, we may be able to assist directly or help connect you with qualified counsel in your jurisdiction.

Time Limits: Do Not Wait

Medical malpractice cases are subject to statutes of limitations that vary by state. In Texas, the general limitations period for medical malpractice is two years from the date of the negligent act, omission, or failure to act. Georgia, Colorado, and Alabama each have their own limitations periods and tolling rules that can affect when the clock begins to run and whether it can be paused.

Many states, including Texas and Georgia, also have pre-suit notice requirements that must be satisfied before a malpractice suit can be filed. In Texas, a plaintiff must serve each defendant with written notice of a health care liability claim at least 60 days before the suit is filed, along with an authorization for release of protected health information. Georgia requires that a medical malpractice complaint be accompanied by an affidavit from a competent expert in the same field as the defendant. These procedural requirements are strict and must be met or the claim may be barred.

If you believe you have a medical malpractice claim, the time to contact an attorney is now. Evidence must be preserved, records must be obtained, and experts must be identified. Waiting until close to a deadline limits our ability to build the strongest possible case.

Why Anunobi Law

We are not a volume firm. We do not take every case that comes through the door. We take cases where we believe the medicine supports a strong claim, the damages are serious, and we can commit the resources necessary to pursue the case at the highest level.

What distinguishes our approach:

• In-house clinical expertise. Our board-certified OB-GYN physician works directly with our legal team. For birth injury and obstetric cases in particular, this is not a capability we have to build from scratch for each case.
• Cross-jurisdictional experience. We take on cases in Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Alabama and nationwide. Each state has its own procedural landscape, and we know it and where appropriate, will partner with local counsel.
• Business and financial depth. Serious malpractice cases involve serious damages. Calculating and presenting those damages accurately, including lost earning capacity, future medical costs, and life care planning, requires the same financial rigor we bring to our complex business and family law matters.
• Contingency fee representation. You pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover for you. We share the risk, which means we are fully aligned with your goal of maximizing the recovery.
• Direct attorney access. Our clients work directly with attorneys, not with paralegals or case managers handling files at arm’s length.

Contact Us for a Case Evaluation

If you or a family member has suffered a catastrophic injury or wrongful death as a result of medical negligence, contact Anunobi Law for a confidential case evaluation. We will review your situation, give you a frank assessment of your potential claim, and explain your options clearly.

We serve clients in Houston and throughout Texas, as well as in Georgia, Colorado, Alabama and nationwide. Contact us through our website or call our office to schedule your consultation.