Harris County Hospital District v. Estrada

I respectfully dissent. The $200,000 award for damages under the Texas Tort Claims Act was correct, and should not have been reduced by the majority to $100,000.

The trial judge found the hospital district 35 percent responsible for negligently prescribing for Carolina Gonzales a drug to which they knew she was allergic. Her children, without knowing its destined effect, gave Gonzales that drug and then watched for 16 days as it caused her slow, painful, and horrific death. Appellees (Gonzales’ estate and her children) brought two actions: a survival claim and a wrongful death claim. The judge…