Scott Encher

A Lubbock County jury found a Lubbock specialty hospital negligent and grossly negligent after nurses gave a 78-year-old patient two doses of Ativan despite a charted allergy, and he died days later. The jury awarded his estate and four sons about $1.8 million, most of it exemplary damages tied to the hospital's hiring of a nurse previously disciplined in Colorado for the same conduct. In 2010 the Amarillo Court of Appeals upheld the liability and gross negligence findings but held that Texas damages caps limited noneconomic damages to $250,000 and exemplary damages to $285,053.94, and sent the case back for a recalculated judgment. The Texas Supreme Court denied review in 2011.

A Lubbock County jury found Bender Terrace nursing home 51 percent responsible for pressure sores that worsened while a quadriplegic resident was in its care in 2000. It awarded $350,000 for pain and suffering and $180,000 in medical expenses, and the judgment was $270,300 after fault was apportioned. The Amarillo court of appeals upheld the pain and suffering award but reversed for unsegregated medical expenses and a missing settlement credit, and remanded for a new trial.