79R10850 DAK-D


By:  Nixon                                                        H.B. No. 2645

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2645:                                   

By:  Rose                                                     C.S.H.B. No. 2645


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to service of expert reports in health care liability claims. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 74.351(a), Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows: (a) In a health care liability claim, a claimant shall, not later than the 120th day after the date the original petition [claim] was filed, serve on each party or the party's attorney one or more expert reports, with a curriculum vitae of each expert listed in the report for each physician or health care provider against whom a liability claim is asserted. The date for serving the report may be extended by written agreement of the affected parties. Each defendant physician or health care provider whose conduct is implicated in a report must file and serve any objection to the sufficiency of the report not later than the 21st day after the date it was served, failing which all objections are waived. SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. An action that accrued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the action immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.