St. David’s North Austin Medical Center Malpractice Lawyer

Trial-Ready Hospital Negligence Attorneys for St. David’s North Austin Medical Center Patients and Families

The Types of St. David’s North Austin Medical Center Lawsuits Our Hospital Malpractice Attorneys Handle

Hastings Law Firm handles St. David’s North Austin Medical Center lawsuits in Austin, Texas, over surgical errors, labor, delivery and newborn care errors, and emergency care errors. Our hospital malpractice lawyers build each claim from the complete chart and the opinions of qualified physicians. We then show the court where the care departed from accepted practice and what that departure has cost the patient.

The cases we see most often at a hospital like St. David’s North Austin Medical Center include:

• Surgical errors. A nerve, blood vessel, bowel or other organ can be injured during gynecological, bariatric or brain and spine surgery, and a transplant patient’s rejection, infection or bleeding can go unrecognized until it is harder to treat. A wrong-site procedure, a retained instrument, or a leak or infection caught too late can mean another operation and additional recovery time. For these claims, our Austin surgical error lawyers follow the operation and the days after it through the operative and anesthesia records, the transplant follow-up notes and the nursing charts.
• Labor, delivery and newborn care errors. Nurses and physicians can overlook signs of fetal distress on the monitor or respond to them too slowly, a cesarean can come too late, or a mother’s hemorrhage or dangerously high blood pressure can go untreated. In the neonatal intensive care unit, a premature or sick newborn’s breathing, oxygen, infection or feeding problems can go unrecognized or untreated. An injury at birth can affect a child’s development for years. Our firm’s Austin birth injury lawyers match the fetal monitoring strips to the prenatal records, the labor nursing notes and the NICU charts to show what each team saw and when.
• Emergency care errors. Emergency physicians can overlook the signs of a heart attack, stroke, internal bleeding or sepsis, or start treatment after the window for it has narrowed. A needed scan may never be ordered, an image may be misread, or a patient may go home before a dangerous condition has been excluded. Lost time can mean permanent disability, a longer hospital course, or the loss of a loved one. In these claims, the Austin misdiagnosis attorneys at our firm set the triage times, test orders and imaging reads against the decision to admit or discharge.

While these are common claim types, our hospital malpractice attorneys handle any valid medical negligence case that arises at this hospital. If your family’s situation is not listed, we still want to hear about it.

About St. David’s North Austin Medical Center on N Mo Pac Expressway

St. David’s North Austin Medical Center is a hospital at 12221 N Mo Pac Expressway in Austin, Texas, with a 24-hour emergency department and maternity and newborn care. Its location page lists Level I, II and III Neonatal Intensive Care Units, along with rehabilitation, inpatient and outpatient surgery, kidney transplant, and gynecological, bariatric and neurosurgery.

The same page lists pediatric services and women’s health services. St. David’s HealthCare describes itself as a partnership between its national hospital operating partner, HCA Healthcare, and two local nonprofits, St. David’s Foundation and Georgetown Health Foundation.

State designations come from DSHS, the Texas Department of State Health Services. Its maternal roster places St. David’s North Austin at Comprehensive Care (Level IV), and its neonatal roster places it at Neonatal Intensive Care (Level III). On the trauma roster, DSHS lists it at Basic Care (Level IV).

The hospital’s own page says its campus is also home to St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas, St. David’s Children’s Hospital, St. David’s Surgical Hospital, the Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery and the Heart and Vascular Center. Care on a shared campus can involve more than one team, and our Austin medical malpractice lawyers review each team’s records together. Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin is a separate Austin hospital with its own page.

Can You File a Lawsuit Against St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, the Doctor, or Both?

A patient may be able to sue St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, a doctor, or both, depending on who gave the care and who employed them. In Baptist Memorial Hospital System v. Sampson, the Texas Supreme Court recognized that an employer answers for negligence by an employee acting within the scope of employment.

For a hospital, that rule reaches the nurses and other staff it employs while they are doing their jobs. Physicians who are not hospital employees are responsible for their own care. The hospital shares responsibility for such a physician only on proof of all three elements of ostensible agency.

The patient must have reasonably believed the physician was the hospital’s agent or employee. The hospital must have created or knowingly allowed that belief, and the patient must have justifiably relied on it.

Who employed the surgeon, the obstetrician, the neonatologist or the emergency physician is a question of fact. The chart and the terms under which each provider worked settle it, and they decide which defendants a lawsuit against St. David’s North Austin should include.

Hiring a lawyer to sue a hospital in Texas means working within Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Each provider must receive written notice at least 60 days before suit is filed, and each defendant’s answer generally starts a 120-day period for serving a qualified expert’s report.

Medicine carries risk, and a poor result does not always mean someone was negligent. Where an injury was preventable, those whose care caused it should be held accountable, and our Austin hospital malpractice lawyers identify each provider a claim should include. We also represent patients injured at St. David’s Heart Hospital of Austin.

Is Ordinary Negligence Enough for Punitive Damages in a St. David’s North Austin Lawsuit?

In a St. David’s North Austin lawsuit, ordinary negligence is not enough for punitive damages, which Texas law calls exemplary damages. Under Section 41.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, a patient must prove by clear and convincing evidence that fraud, malice or gross negligence caused the harm. The jury must be unanimous on both liability and the amount.

A malpractice claim seeks compensatory damages, which repay the medical bills, lost income and other losses an injury causes. Exemplary damages are meant to punish, so the law asks for more proof before a jury can award them.

Clear and convincing evidence is a higher bar than the more-likely-than-not standard that governs the rest of a malpractice case. Section 41.003 says the burden cannot be shifted to the defendant. It also cannot be met with evidence of ordinary negligence, bad faith or a deceptive trade practice. Gross negligence asks for much more than care that fell below the accepted standard.

When exemplary damages are awarded, Section 41.008 limits the amount by a formula rather than a single figure. The ceiling is the greater of two times the economic damages plus any noneconomic damages up to $750,000, or $200,000. The statute sets out exceptions for certain felony conduct, and the jury is not told about the limit at all.

Our attorneys read the records for signs of more than ordinary negligence before raising exemplary damages. We build the negligence claim first, because that is the claim that compensates the patient.

How We Work With Injured St. David’s North Austin Medical Center Patients and Their Families

Hastings Law Firm’s hospital malpractice lawyers represent patients and families in Austin, Texas, whose claims arise from care at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. Our attorneys handle claims over surgical, birth and emergency care, and we explain each step to the family as the claim moves forward.

The first call goes to a member of our intake team. A spouse, parent or other family member can call for a patient who is unable to, or for a newborn. Tell us what happened, where the care was given, and who was involved, and our team works to make sure you are heard.

We then request the complete records on your behalf, and our lawyers and medical professionals compare them to learn what care was given and when. After surgery, that means the operative, anesthesia and follow-up records. After a birth, it means the prenatal records, fetal monitoring strips, labor nursing notes and NICU records. An emergency visit calls for the triage and physician notes, test results and discharge instructions.

Once our hospital negligence lawyers accept a case, we deal with the hospital, its insurer and its lawyers, so you do not have to deal with them yourself. Our board-certified patient advocates stay in contact with you and explain each noteworthy development in plain language. We pursue a settlement that matches what the injury has cost your family, and if an offer is not enough, we are prepared to take your case to a jury.

If You or a Loved One Were Injured at St. David’s North Austin, Speak With Our Medical Attorneys Today

Hastings Law Firm handles hospital malpractice claims in Austin, Texas, for patients and families hurt by care at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. Our hospital negligence lawyers look at what happened and which providers may be responsible. We perform a free case review to find out whether you have a valid claim.

Our team is here for you. What you share with us stays confidential, and there is no fee unless we win. Contact us to understand your options.