IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS
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No. 07-0368
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Hill Regional
Hospital, Petitioner,
v.
Maxine Runnels, Individually
and as Heir to and On Behalf of the
Estate of Glendon
Runnels Deceased and Tammy Runnels Walker
and
Glen Paul Runnels,
Individually, Respondents
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On Petition for Review from the
Court of Appeals for the Tenth District of Texas
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PER CURIAM
The surviving wife and adult
children of Glendon Runnels filed this suit claiming Hill Regional
Hospital
was negligent in failing to diagnose and treat a pulmonary embolism. As
required by statute, within 120 days of filing Runnels served curriculum vita
and expert reports signed by Dr. Jeffrey Kopita and
registered nurse Debora Simmons.
Hill Regional Hospital
moved for dismissal and attorney’s fees on the ground that the expert reports were
inadequate,
but the trial court denied the motion.
Hill Regional
Hospital filed a timely
interlocutory appeal with the Tenth Court of Appeals, which dismissed for want
of jurisdiction.
For the reasons stated today in Lewis v. Funderburk, we hold that Hill Regional Hospital’s
motion seeking dismissal and fees was a motion pursuant to section 74.351(b),
and thus reviewable by interlocutory appeal when the trial court denied it. The court of appeals erred by concluding
otherwise.
Accordingly, we grant the petition
for review, and without hearing oral argument, Tex. R. App. P. 59.1, we reverse the court of appeals’
judgment and remand the case to that court to consider the remaining arguments
raised by the interlocutory appeal.
OPINION
DELIVERED: April 11, 2008