§ 74.051.Notice

The pre-suit notice requirement, and the tolling provision that makes it survivable.

Any person asserting a health care liability claim shall give written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each physician or provider against whom the claim is made, at least 60 days before filing suit. The notice must be accompanied by the authorization form for release of protected health information.

Subsection (c) is what keeps the requirement from being a trap. Notice tolls the applicable statute of limitations to and including a period of 75 days following the giving of the notice, and the tolling applies to all parties and potential parties.

Seventy-five days rather than sixty, so the tolling covers the waiting period with room to spare. And because it reaches potential parties, notice to one provider preserves the claim against others not yet identified.

Subsection (b) puts compliance in the pleadings. Each party must state that it has fully complied with this section and the authorization section, and provide such evidence as the judge requires.

Subsection (d) makes records flow both ways. All parties are entitled to complete and unaltered copies of the patient's medical records from any other party within 45 days of a written request — and a claimant who provides the statutory authorization has complied.

Subsection (e) solves a real problem. Notwithstanding the Occupations Code or any other law, a request for records of a deceased or incompetent person is valid if accompanied by an authorization signed by a parent, spouse, or adult child. Without it, the family of a patient who died could be unable to obtain the records needed to evaluate the claim.