Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

Re: help!! please

The fact that you were denied time off to go see your doctor does not create liability in your employer for the miscarriage. Nothing would have prevented you from leaving the office to go to the doctor. The fact that you may or may not have lost your job was a factor in your mind that kept you from leaving. This is the hurdle that you would have to overcome to tag the employer with liability. You might have an invasion of privacy claim for them accessing your personal records unless they have some waiver signed by you perhaps for administering your insurance benefits. That is something that would have to be investigated.

Re: help!! please

First, I am verysorry for your loss.

As to the questions about the disclosed and perhaps misused medical record it certainly sounds like some of the HIPAA laws may well have been broken?

However, the initial question in any potential Med Mal case is whether the "standard of care" has been breached. In other words did the victim get sub-standard care. Based on the facts that you have given those facts are far from clear. What did the people who ultimately treated you say? Has another physician offered an opinion as to causation of your miscarriage. YOuwill need those opinions or an opinion of another outside physician that has reviewed all the records.

In 2003, our learned Texas Legislature listened to the "Big Insurance" and "Big Medicine" lobbyists and concluded that the way to stop medical malpractice in Texas was to LIMIT the maximum amount of damages a plaintiff could be awarded by a jury. In doing so, they passed sweeping legislature that absolutely caps damages on children, stay at home moms and the retired at $250,000.00, with NO exceptions. They did all this knowing that it routinely COSTS a plaintiff and their lawyer upwards of $50,000.00 to even get a medical malpractice case to a point where a jury could hear and eventually decide it. Since you are employed, you may have a right to a greater judgment, but that will depend on whether (and how much)you have sustained any past or future lost earning capacity.

My initial recommendation to you is to seek the evaluation of a qualified medical malpractice lawyer in your area. He can take your facts and the medical records that support them and get a an outside physician to evaluate the appropriate "standard of care" against your facts and then make a recommendation on whether med mal litigation is a potential solution for you.

I can also recommend that you consider filing a formal complaint with the Texas Board of Medical Examiners (TMBE). This can be done online at http://www.tmb.state.tx.us/ . Follow the prompts. Lastly, I can highly recommend making direct contact with Texas Watch. Texas Watch is a pro-consumer group that is very interested in hearing about stories like yours where Doctors have been less than "helpful" to their patients. You can reach them on the web as well. Their web site is http://www.texaswatch.org/TW/.

Good Luck to you.