HOUSTON – Texas trial lawyers Darren A. Braun and Ashish Mahendru of Mahendru P.C. successfully argued before the Fourteenth Court of Appeals on behalf of their client Nina McNew, a federal employee who is suing Harris County Hospital District for negligence.
According to court documents, Ms. McNew worked at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in northeast Houston performing statistics-related research for the federal government. Ms. McNew claimed the location of her office, which was adjacent to a radiation-emitting machine, caused her to develop an aggressive form of breast cancer.
In a February 27 decision, the appellate court rejected the hospital district’s argument that focused on a key aspect of what constitutes a safety-standards violation under the Texas Medical Liability Act. The panel ruled that without knowing what type of machine was emitting the radiation, it could not determine whether the machine was governed by medical-liability statutes specific to health care providers or those generally applicable to any person possessing radiation-emitting machines.
“We are grateful for the court’s decision as this will ensure our client’s claim can move forward through the Texas court system,” said Mr. Braun.
The national news service Law360 reported on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals panel’s ruling against Harris County Hospital District, which oversees Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, in the article headlined, “Texas Court Says Hospital Must Face Breast Cancer Suit” (subscription required.)
Ms. McNew is represented by Darren Braun and Ashish Mahendru of Mahendru PC.
The case is Harris County Hospital District v. Nina McNew, case number 14-18-00868-CV, in the Court of Appeals for the Fourteenth District of Texas.
Mahendru P.C. is a boutique commercial litigation firm whose attorneys are known for their tenacity, intelligence and experience. Founded in 2001, the firm has a simple philosophy: Your problem is our problem. We adopt it, understand it and solve it. Our objective is to resolve every case in the best, fastest and most cost-efficient manner possible. We never wait for our opponent’s next move, which means we spend a lot of time at the courthouse and are well-known there.