In Cook v. Neely, a woman sued a neurosurgeon for health care liability and fraud. The case arose when the plaintiff experienced pain in her hip, leg, and lower back. She sought care from the neurosurgeon, who performed surgery on her, removing her herniated disc and placing two medical devices known as bone plugs to stabilize her spine.
After surgery, the doctor continued to provide care to the woman. At every office visit, she was examined, and x-rays were taken of the area with the bone plugs. He told her that the bone plugs were in a good position. At her last visit, the doctor recommended she have another surgery to address other spinal problems. She was examined by a different surgeon, who told her that the bone plugs compressed her nerve roots. He recommended that the bone plugs be removed. The other doctor did remove the bone plugs in a second surgery.
She sued the neurosurgeon under the Texas Medical Liability Act (“TMLA”). She argued that the neurosurgeon was negligent in his administration of health care treatment and failed to offer treatment according to the standard of care. She also alleged he had failed to position the medical devices correctly. Later, she added a claim of fraud, alleging that the neurosurgeon had committed fraud by misrepresenting the position of the bone plugs as excellent. She argued she relied on these representations to her detriment and was stopped from seeking help for the badly positioned bone plugs.