Patient rights in Texas have been decimated. Prop 12, which was passed in Texas in 2003, arbitrarily restricts the legal rights of all Texans. It particularly hurts infants, the elderly, and lower-income Texans because the majority of their damages are “non-economic.” This allows the few dangerous doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes to escape accountability for the needless injury or death they cause. Not only does this put patients at greater risk of medical negligence, it has not led to improvements in the cost, access, or quality of health care in our state. Nursing home residents are particularly vulnerable. Lax regulation and lack of legal accountability have led to substandard care and abuse in nursing homes across Texas.

Have you or someone you know been a victim of medical negligence? Please share your story with us.

Visit our Patient & Nursing Home Safety Tips page for resources and information on patient and nursing home safety.

What You Should Know

Texas Watch has created several informational documents that explain the background and effects of stripping patients’ rights:

• Texas-Style “Reform” Fails Patients: Costs Up, Access Down
• Restricting Patient Rights Does Not Lower Health Costs: Spending Increases Faster in Texas
• Background on the Cap in Texas
• Patient Protection Facts
• Why Are Caps on Damages Bad for Texas?
• Patient Justice: Patients Are Better Off in States Without Barriers to Justice
  TEXAS WATCH; January 2008
• The False Choice: Doctors or Accountability; The Real Impact of So-Called Tort “Reform” in Texas
  TEXAS WATCH; February 2007
• The Real Impact of the Cap: True Stories of Texans Devastated by Medical Negligence
  Read true stories about Texans whose lives have been destroyed by medical negligence but have no where to turn.