In the age of tort reform, it’s hard enough for plaintiffs to win jury awards in medical-malpractice cases, let alone preserve those awards on appeal. Yet Kevin Dubose recently convinced Houston’s 14th Court of Appeals to keep a $1.5 million med-mal verdict intact by batting back some common defense arguments made in such cases — and one unusual one.
Melissa Dorriety entered Christus St. Catherine Hospital in 2006 for a diabetes-related medical problem, according to the 14th Court’s decision in Christus Health and Christus Health Gulf Coast d/b/a Christus St. Catherine Health & Wellness Center v. Rickey Dorriety, et al. She slipped into a coma while in the hospital and later died in hospice care. The Dorriety family sued the Christus entities and two doctors, alleging the defendants failed to monitor Melissa’s sodium levels after she was taken off her diabetes medication. One doctor was nonsuited, but Christus successfully moved to designate her as a responsible third party.
