Anoxia
Complete lack of oxygen reaching tissue or the brain. In a medical-malpractice setting, anoxia during birth or a procedure can cause permanent brain damage.
Brain injury cases →Plain-English definitions of 58 terms patients and families encounter in Texas medical-malpractice cases.
Medical-malpractice cases sit at the intersection of two technical languages: medicine and law. This glossary translates the 58 most common terms our clients encounter into clear, useful definitions.
Use the alphabet bar below to jump to a letter, or read top-to-bottom. Every term has a permanent anchor link.
Complete lack of oxygen reaching tissue or the brain. In a medical-malpractice setting, anoxia during birth or a procedure can cause permanent brain damage.
Brain injury cases →A 0–10 score assigned at one and five minutes after birth measuring color, pulse, reflex, muscle tone, and breathing. Persistently low scores can be an early indicator of birth-related distress.
Private dispute resolution where a neutral arbitrator decides the case in place of a judge or jury. Arbitration is sometimes required by hospital admission paperwork.
Performing a procedure on a patient without consent. Distinct from negligence — battery requires no proof that the standard of care was violated, only that consent was lacking.
The obligation a party has to prove its claims. In a Texas medical-malpractice case, the plaintiff must prove negligence and damages by a preponderance of the evidence — that it was more likely than not.
The legal link between the defendant's negligence and the patient's injury. The plaintiff must show that the negligence was a substantial factor in causing the harm.
A group of permanent movement disorders, often caused by injury to the developing brain before, during, or shortly after birth. A subset of cases involve preventable medical negligence.
Cerebral palsy cases →Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code Chapter 74 — the Texas Medical Liability Act. Governs all medical-malpractice claims in Texas, including the expert-report requirement, damage caps, and pre-suit notice rules.
A doctrine that reduces a plaintiff's recovery if their own conduct contributed to the injury. In Texas, a plaintiff who is more than 50% at fault recovers nothing.
The legal document that begins a lawsuit. Sets out the parties, the facts, the legal theories, and the damages sought.
The fee arrangement most plaintiffs' attorneys use. The lawyer is paid a percentage of the eventual recovery and only collects if the client wins. No win, no fee.
A medical reason a particular treatment, drug, or procedure should not be used. Ignoring a documented contraindication is a common form of medical negligence.
The money awarded to compensate a plaintiff for harm. Subdivided in Texas into economic, non-economic, and (in rare cases) exemplary or punitive damages.
Statutory limits on certain types of damages. Texas caps non-economic damages in malpractice cases at $250,000 per defendant and up to $500,000 against all healthcare institutions combined.
The party being sued. In a medical-malpractice case, the defendants are typically physicians, hospitals, nursing facilities, and the entities that employ them.
Sworn testimony taken outside of court, usually in a lawyer's conference room, and recorded by a court reporter. Both sides can use deposition testimony at trial.
The systematic process of distinguishing one disease or condition from others that present similarly. Failure to perform an adequate differential is a frequent basis for misdiagnosis claims.
Misdiagnosis cases →The pre-trial phase where both sides exchange documents, take depositions, and gather evidence. Most medical-malpractice cases settle during or shortly after discovery.
A legal doctrine that delays the start of the statute of limitations until the plaintiff knew or should have known of the injury. Texas applies the discovery rule narrowly in malpractice cases, primarily through the constitutional open-courts doctrine.
Texas SOL hub →Out-of-pocket and quantifiable losses — past and future medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, life-care expenses. Texas does not cap economic damages.
A report by a qualified medical expert, required by Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.351, that must be served within 120 days of filing the lawsuit. Failure to serve a timely, adequate report results in dismissal of the case.
A specialist permitted to testify about technical or scientific matters. Texas malpractice cases typically require an expert in the same specialty as the defendant to establish the standard of care and breach.
A statutory exception that resets the two-year clock to the date a foreign object — such as a retained surgical sponge or instrument — is discovered, when the object was unintentionally left inside the body during a procedure.
Surgical error cases →Active concealment of malpractice by a healthcare provider. Concealment can toll the statute of limitations until the patient discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the underlying negligence.
Brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation, most often around the time of birth. Many HIE cases trace back to delayed C-section, mismanaged labor, or failed fetal monitoring.
HIE cases →A reduced level of oxygen in tissue. Prolonged hypoxia causes ischemic injury and, in newborns, can lead to HIE and cerebral palsy.
An injury caused by medical examination or treatment itself, rather than by the underlying disease. Not every iatrogenic injury is malpractice — only those caused by a deviation from the standard of care.
A patient's voluntary agreement to a procedure after being told of its risks, benefits, and alternatives. Failure to obtain informed consent for a material risk that materializes can be a separate cause of action from negligence.
A written question that one party serves on another and that must be answered under oath. Common during discovery.
An inadequate supply of blood (and therefore oxygen) to a tissue or organ. Untreated ischemia can lead to infarction — tissue death.
Legal responsibility for harm. A defendant who is found liable owes damages to the plaintiff.
Professional negligence. In a medical context, conduct by a healthcare provider that falls below the accepted standard of care and harms the patient.
Medical malpractice cases →A facilitated settlement conference run by a neutral mediator. Most Texas courts require mediation before trial.
The complete written and electronic record of a patient's care. Patients have a statutory right to obtain a full copy of their records, usually for a reasonable fee.
Failure to use reasonable care under the circumstances. The four traditional elements are duty, breach, causation, and damages.
Compensation for losses that are real but not financial — pain, suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment of life. Texas caps these damages in malpractice cases.
An infection acquired in a hospital or other healthcare facility. Some — though not all — nosocomial infections are caused by failures in infection-control protocols.
A Texas constitutional doctrine that may extend the statute of limitations when a strict 2-year cutoff would unconstitutionally bar a plaintiff who could not reasonably have discovered the injury in time. Narrow but important.
Texas SOL hub →The party bringing the lawsuit. In a medical-malpractice action, the patient or the patient's family.
The civil burden of proof — the plaintiff must show that each element is more likely true than not (greater than 50%). Lower than the criminal beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard.
A medical prediction about the likely course and outcome of a disease. In litigation, life-care planners and treating physicians provide prognosis testimony to support future-damages claims.
Damages awarded to punish particularly egregious conduct. Rarely available in Texas malpractice cases; require clear and convincing evidence of fraud, malice, or gross negligence.
Latin for "the thing speaks for itself." A doctrine that allows negligence to be inferred from the type of injury alone — for example, a surgical sponge left inside a patient — without direct evidence of how it occurred.
Latin for "let the master answer." A doctrine making employers vicariously liable for the negligent acts of their employees committed in the course of employment.
A life-threatening condition caused by the body's response to infection. Failure to recognize and aggressively treat sepsis is a common basis for hospital-negligence claims.
A negotiated resolution of a lawsuit before judgment. Most malpractice cases end in settlement.
The level of skill, care, and judgment that a reasonably competent provider in the same specialty would use under similar circumstances. Plaintiffs must prove this through expert testimony.
The deadline by which a lawsuit must be filed. In Texas, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is generally two years from the date of the negligent act or the last date of treatment.
Texas SOL hub →An absolute outer limit on filing a claim, regardless of when the harm was discovered. Texas imposes a 10-year statute of repose in medical-malpractice cases.
A court-issued command to appear at a deposition or trial, or to produce documents.
A pre-trial ruling that resolves part or all of a case without a trial because there is no genuine factual dispute. Medical-malpractice defendants often move for summary judgment based on the expert-report requirement.
Legal pausing of the statute-of-limitations clock. May apply when the plaintiff is a minor, when the defendant fraudulently conceals the malpractice, or in narrow constitutional circumstances.
A civil wrong (other than a breach of contract) that causes harm. Medical malpractice is a particular kind of tort — a negligence tort.
The formal in-court proceeding where a judge or jury hears evidence and decides the case. Only a small percentage of malpractice cases reach trial.
The jury's (or judge's) formal decision on the merits of the case.
Liability imposed on one party for the wrongful acts of another, typically through respondeat superior. Hospitals are often held vicariously liable for the negligence of their employed physicians, nurses, and technicians.
The jury-selection process. Lawyers question prospective jurors to identify and remove those who cannot be impartial.
A claim brought by certain surviving family members when negligence causes a loved one's death. In Texas, surviving spouses, children, and parents may bring wrongful-death actions, generally within two years of the death.
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