Texas Hospitals Grapple with 'Never Events' Amidst Damage Caps for Victims

Texas hospitals are reporting a significant number of serious surgical errors, categorized as 'never events' by the Texas Department of State Health Services. These incidents fall into four main categories: wrong procedure, wrong patient, wrong site, and unintentionally retained objects.

In 2024, DSHS recorded 128 cases of retained objects, 73 wrong-site surgeries, 26 wrong-procedure incidents, and 11 wrong-patient cases. This marks an increase from 2023, which saw 130 retained object cases, 50 wrong-site surgeries, 20 wrong-procedure incidents, and six wrong-patient cases.

A significant concern highlighted by the report is the legal framework surrounding medical malpractice in Texas. State law caps non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, for patients harmed by medical errors. For state-owned hospitals, recovery can be limited to as little as $100,000 per person in some circumstances. Private healthcare providers generally face a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, while economic damages like medical bills and lost wages remain uncapped.

Illustrative cases underscore the severity of these errors. Morgan Jackson, a woman who underwent a C-section for a scheduled procedure to remove a cyst, was unexpectedly sterilized by her doctor. The surgeon reportedly operated without access to her complete medical chart and relied on an inaccurate procedure summary, leading to the unintended sterilization. Jackson expressed that this error took away her choice to have more children.

Another patient, Janie Ayala, experienced a delay in cancer treatment after a lumpectomy in July 2017. While the benign lump in her right breast was removed, the cancerous one was not. Five months later, a mammogram revealed the cancer had spread, necessitating a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Her daughter described the ordeal as her mother going "through hell and came back, and then went through hell again and came back."

Beatriz Cerda discovered a three-centimeter needle, still in its packaging, inside her abdomen in September 2025, years after giving birth via C-section in 2022. Doctors initially suspected appendicitis. When attempting to remove the needle, surgeons found it had moved, requiring additional incisions and the use of an X-ray machine. Cerda noted the peculiarity of losing a packaged needle and, despite a settlement, incurred $7,000 in medical bills for its removal at a different hospital.

These cases have raised concerns about patient protection within the Texas healthcare system, particularly in light of the existing damage caps for malpractice victims.