Common Questions / Medical Malpractice
What do I have to prove in a Texas medical malpractice case?
That a provider breached the standard of care, what a reasonably prudent provider would have done, and that the breach caused real harm, proven through qualified medical experts. Texas layers strict procedural requirements on top, including a 60-day pre-suit notice and an expert report served within 120 days of each defendant's answer.
The substance: standard of care, breach, causation
A bad outcome is not malpractice; medicine carries risk even when practiced perfectly. The claim requires proof that the provider departed from the standard of care, what a reasonably prudent physician, nurse, or facility would have done in the same circumstances, and that the departure, not the underlying disease or injury, proximately caused the harm. Both elements live and die on expert testimony from qualified professionals in the relevant field. Causation is where most cases fail: the expert must credibly separate what the negligence caused from what the patient's condition would have done anyway.
The procedure: the gauntlet Texas built
Texas law wraps these cases in requirements that forgive nothing. Written notice must go to each provider at least 60 days before suit, accompanied by a statutory medical authorization, which modestly tolls the deadline. After suit, a detailed expert report and curriculum vitae must be served for each defendant within 120 days of that defendant's answer; miss it and the case must be dismissed, with the defendant's attorney's fees taxed against you. Limitations is generally two years with technical accrual rules and a ten-year outer statute of repose, and special provisions govern claims for minors. None of these steps is a formality, and each has ended cases that were meritorious on the medicine.
The caps: what the legislature took off the table
Texas caps noneconomic damages, pain, mental anguish, impairment, disfigurement, in health care liability claims: $250,000 total against all physicians and individual providers, plus up to $250,000 per health care institution with an institutional ceiling of $500,000. Economic damages, medical expenses, lost earnings, future care, remain uncapped, which is why case value in Texas malpractice turns so heavily on the economic build-out: life care plans, vocational analysis, and economist testimony. It is also why a case with modest economic loss can be strong medicine and weak economics, an honest evaluation every claimant deserves before investing years.
Why screening is rigorous, and free
Malpractice cases cost tens of thousands of dollars in expert work before a jury ever hears them, against defendants whose carriers try cases as policy. A responsible firm screens hard: records reviewed, experts consulted, causation pressure-tested, economics measured against the caps. Silver Key Law does that evaluation without charge, and gives a straight answer either way, because the worst outcome in this field is not a declined case, it is three years spent on one the law was built to kill.
Injured in Arizona? Some rules on this page are Texas-specific. Arizona differs on points that change outcomes, including pure comparative fault and government-claim deadlines. See our Arizona answers or call (888) 508-6967.
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This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes depend on facts; talk to a lawyer about yours.
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