Texas Supreme Court Rules That Patients Can't Sue For Medical Errors Found After 10-year Limit

By DIANNA HUNT A Texas woman who discovered that a sponge had been left inside her during a hysterectomy does not have the right to sue the hospital and doctor because more than 10 years had lapsed before the surgical error was discovered, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled.The court, overturning an appeals court decision, upheld a state law that sets a 10-year limit for consumers to file medical malpractice claims, even when a medical error is not discovered within that period."Giving wide berth to the Legislature's policy judgments, as we must, we cannot say lawmakers offended the Constitution by cutting off malpractice claims after giving claimants a decade to bring suit," Justice Don Willett wrote in the opinion.The opinion points out that the law was enacted to curb liability claims against physicians and notes, "We have recognized 'that the length of time that insureds are exposed to potential liability has a bearing on the rates that insurers must charge.'"Critics, however, said the ruling denies patients injured by negligence the right to have their cases heard in court if it takes years to figure out what's wrong."You can be sick for a very long time before you realize the problem is a sponge that was left behind," said Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, a consumer advocacy group in Austin.