Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 74.552 – Affirmative Defense in Certain Actions Arising From Certain Pregnancy Complications
(a) It is an affirmative defense to liability in a civil action brought against a physician or health care provider for a violation of Section 170A.002, Health and Safety Code, including an action to recover a civil penalty under Section 170A.005, Health and Safety Code, that the physician or health care provider exercised reasonable medical judgment in providing medical treatment to a pregnant woman in response to:
(1) an ectopic pregnancy at any location; or
(2) a previable premature rupture of membranes.
(b) A pharmacist or pharmacy that receives, processes, or dispenses a prescription drug or medication order written by a physician or health care provider to whom Subsection (a) applies is entitled to the affirmative defense provided by Subsection (a).
Terms Used In Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 74.552
- Health care: means any act or treatment performed or furnished, or that should have been performed or furnished, by any health care provider for, to, or on behalf of a patient during the patient's medical care, treatment, or confinement. See Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 74.001
- Health care provider: means any person, partnership, professional association, corporation, facility, or institution duly licensed, certified, registered, or chartered by the State of Texas to provide health care, including:
(i) a registered nurse;
(ii) a dentist;
(iii) a podiatrist;
(iv) a pharmacist;
(v) a chiropractor;
(vi) an optometrist;
(vii) a health care institution; or
(viii) a health care collaborative certified under Chapter 848, Insurance Code. See Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 74.001 - Pharmacist: means one licensed under Chapter 551, Occupations Code, who, for the purposes of this chapter, performs those activities limited to the dispensing of prescription medicines which result in health care liability claims and does not include any other cause of action that may exist at common law against them, including but not limited to causes of action for the sale of mishandled or defective products. See Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 74.001
- Physician: means :
(A) an individual licensed to practice medicine in this state;
(B) a professional association organized under the Texas Professional Association Act (Article 1528f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) by an individual physician or group of physicians;
(C) a partnership or limited liability partnership formed by a group of physicians;
(D) a nonprofit health corporation certified under § 162. See Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 74.001 - Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) This section does not create a civil cause of action.