Powers Taylor is celebrating a big appellate victory Senior Associate Meredith Mathews recently received for one of our nursing home abuse and neglect cases. The case involves claims that a nursing facility, Nexion Health at Duncanville, failed to monitor or supervise our clients’ father, who was a dementia patient, to ensure he was properly hydrated. The lawsuit claims that Mr. McCray eventually passed away while under the care of Nexion as a result of  severe dehydration. In the fall of 2017, Nexion Health’s counsel objected to Plaintiff’s Chapter 74 expert report, an in-depth document that is required by Texas law to demonstrate a reasonable basis for the court to conclude negligence occurred in medical malpractice claims.

The defendant moved to dismiss the case, claiming Plaintiff’s Chapter 74 report was insufficient. On November 6, 2017, the trial court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case. Nexion subsequently filed an appeal to the the Dallas Court of Appeals to try and reverse the judge’s decision. The team at Powers Taylor worked hard over the next several months to file a response and in May of 2018, Ms. Mathews went before the court of appeals for oral argument. It took nearly three months, but on August 1, 2018, the Court of Appeals issued its opinion affirming the trial court’s original ruling. After nearly 9 months of the appeals process, this victory allows us to move forward with the case for our clients. Congratulations to Meredith and team on a job well done!