Powers Taylor Celebrates Second Appellate Victory!

More congratulations are in order for Senior Associate Meredith Mathews, who has received a second big appellate victory in a nursing home abuse and neglect case. This case centers around claims that Kindred Hospital of Fort Worth failed to monitor our client’s father, allowing him to develop severe pressure ulcers on several parts of his body. Further lack of communication between Kindred’s nursing staff and the treating physician contributed to Mr. Young developing sepsis, which ultimately led to his death. In the summer of 2016, Kindred Hospital’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.
Kindred claimed the Plaintiff’s Chapter 74 report was insufficient and moved to dismiss the case. The trial court sustained Kindred’s objections on July 8, 2016 and denied both of our client’s motions for reconsideration in October of 2017. On January 4, 2018, the trial court sided with Kindred and dismissed the claims against their facility from the lawsuit. The team at Powers Taylor filed an appeal to that judgment with the Ft. Worth Court of Appeals, claiming the trial court improperly dismissed the claims against Kindred. Over the next eight months, the team at Powers Taylor worked diligently to fully brief the court on the issues in the matter, and on September 18, 2018, Ms. Mathews went before the Ft. Worth Court of Appeals for oral argument. On November 1, 2018, the Court of Appeals issued its opinion reversing the trial court’s ruling. This victory allows us to proceed with the case against Kindred Hospital on behalf of our clients. Congratulations to Meredith and team for another appellate job well done!