Court Opinion

ID: 9692347
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 15:52:12.01044+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:34.185093
License: Public Domain

REAVIS, J.,
concurring.
Although I concur with the decision of the majority that the request for mandamus relief should be denied, I write separately to explain the reasons why I agree that the relief sought should be denied without any prejudice to consideration of the applicability of Article 4590i, section 13.01(g) (Vernon Supp.2002) upon ordinary appeal.
Real parties filed their medical malpractice suit on March 3, 2001, and their expert report on May 24, 2001. Then, on February 5, 2002, relator filed her motion to dismiss the action contending that the expert report, although timely filed, did not satisfy the requirements of the Act because it did not identify the appropriate standard of care. In response, real parties filed an amended expert report on February 16, 2002, followed by a response to relator’s motion to dismiss and a motion for an extension of time to file expert reports under section 13.01(g);1 however, relator did not file a written response to real parties’ motion for an extension.
After hearing the two motions and testimony of counsel for real parties at a hearing on April 19, 2002, the trial court signed an order on April 19, 2002, finding:
the failure of the claimants or their attorneys to file an expert report in compliance with Article 4590i was not intentional or the result of conscience indifference, but was the result of an accident or a mistake....
*392It is therefore ordered that the Plaintiffs are granted a grace period of 30 days from the date of this order to comply with the requirements of Article 4590i, Section 13.01 regarding the filing of an expert report.
Then, on April 24, 2002, the trial court signed an order finding that
1. The expert report of Frank L. Barnes, M.D., dated January 27, 2001, is inadequate and does not satisfy the requirements of Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 4590i.
2. Plaintiffs have filed an amended report of Frank L. Barnes, M.D., dated February 16, 2002, and leave is hereby granted for such filing under Tex.Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art 4590i, § 13.01(g). The adequacy of the newly filed report is not before the Court at this time and no ruling is made with respect thereto.
Although relator did not challenge real parties’ motion for an extension grounded on accident or mistake by exception, motion, or objection in the trial court, and by her petition does not challenge the form of the order signed April 19, 2002, or either of the findings by the trial court of “accident or mistake” in effect, relator’s request for mandamus relief suggests that the conclusions of accident or mistake are irrelevant.
The Act/Article 4590i
In response to the medical malpractice insurance crisis, the Legislature enacted the Medical Liability and Insurance Improvement Act. The stated purpose of the act is “to improve and modify the system by which health care liability claims are determined” without unduly restricting a “claimant’s rights any more than necessary to deal with the crisis ....” § 1.02(b)(3).
In relevant part, subsection (d) places a burden on the claimant to
Not later than the later of the 180th day after the date on which a health care liability claim is filed or the last day of any extended period established under Subsection (f) or (h) of this section, the claimant shall ...
(1) furnish to counsel for each physician or health care provider one or more expert reports, with a curriculum vitae of each expert listed in the report; or
(2) voluntarily nonsuit the action against the physician or health care provider.
In order to comply with subsection (d), the claimant must either timely file the expert report2 per the statutory definition or non-suit the action. Subsection (e) then provides:
If a claimant has failed ... to comply with Subsection (d) of this section within the time required, the court shall, on the motion of the affected physician ... enter an order awarding as sanctions against the claimant or the claimant’s attorney:
(1) the reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of court incurred by that defendant;
(2) the forfeiture of any cost bond respecting the claimant’s claim against that defendant to the extent necessary to pay the award; and
(3) the dismissal of the action of the claimant against that defendant with prejudice to the claim’s refiling.
*393The sufficiency of an expert’s report is not tested by special exception under Tex.R. Civ. P. 91, but instead is reviewed by motion. Subsection (l) provides:
A court shall grant a motion challenging the adequacy of any expert report only if it appears to the court, after hearing, that the report does not represent a good faith effort to comply with the definition of an expert report in Subsection (r)(6) of this section.
30 Day Extension Under Section 13.01(g)
In addition to extensions of time authorized by subsections (f) and (h), subsection (g) provides:
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if a claimant has failed to comply with a deadline established by Subsection (d) of this section and after hearing the court finds that the failure of the claimant or the claimant’s attorney was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference but was the result of an accident or mistake, the court shall grant a grace period of 30 days to permit the claimant to comply with that subsection. A motion by a claimant for relief under this subsection shall be considered timely if it is filed before any hearing on a motion by a defendant under Subsection (e) of this section.
Because the Act does not define the terms “accident” or “mistake,” nor address the distinction between a mistake of law distinguished from a mistake of fact, we are guided by the ordinary usage of such terms. The terms “accident” and “mistake” constitute conclusions and are not synonymous. As commonly understood, an accident is an unforseen and unexpected event that occurs independently of any participation by the party affected by it, and is not the proximate result of the party’s own act. Henry S. Miller Company v. Evans, 452 S.W.2d 426, 432 (Tex.1970).
In contrast however, mistake is an “erroneous mental condition, conception, or conviction, induced by ignorance, misapprehension, or misunderstanding of the truth, but without negligence, and resulting in some act or omission done or suffered erroneously by one or both the parties to a transaction, but without its erroneous character being intended or known at the time.” Id. Also, a mistake may be a mistake of fact or a mistake of law, which happens when the actor, having full knowledge of the facts, comes to an erroneous conclusion as to the legal effect of the facts and is a mistaken opinion or inference arising from an incorrect exercise of the judgment upon the facts. Blacks Law Dictionary 1001 (6th ed.1990). Moreover, although relief may be available for a mistake of fact, it is generally not available for a mistake of law. See Payne v. Baldock, 287 S.W.2d 507, 510 (Tex.Civ.App.-Eastland 1956, writ ref'd n.r.e).
According to American Transitional Care v. Palacios, 46 S.W.3d 873, 880 (Tex.2001), and Bowie Memorial Hosp. v. Wright, 79 S.W.3d 48, 54 (Tex.2002), when a challenge to an expert’s report is sustained, and the 180 day deadline has passed, the trial court is required to dismiss the suit. However, these two cases are not controlling because they were not mandamus proceedings with limited records common to original proceedings, but proceeded as ordinary appeals upon dismissals by the trial court. Moreover, the dismissals were not required notwithstanding the trial court’s findings of “accident” or “mistake” as presented here.
Although the April 19, 2002 order uses the terms “accident” or “mistake” as they appear in subsection (g), it does not state the facts supporting the trial court’s con-*394elusions of either or both. Accordingly, I concur with the decision of the majority that relator has not shown that the trial court violated a ministerial duty or clearly abused its discretion.

. Bearing certificate of service date of April 17, 2002.

. Section 13.01(r)(6) defines expert report as a written report by an expert that provides a fair summary of the expert's opinions as of the date of the report regarding applicable standards of care, the manner in which the care rendered by the physician or health care provider failed to meet the standards, and the causal relationship between that failure and the injury, harm, or damages claimed.