Dangerous drug or medical device injury in Fort Worth: reporting, Texas rules and deadlines

Report a serious drug or device problem to the FDA's MedWatch program. Your doctor is not required to report it for you. In Texas, a drug maker, seller and prescriber start with a presumption they are not liable if the label carried FDA-approved warnings. You generally have 2 years to sue, and only 6 months to give notice if JPS or another public hospital gave the drug.

Last checked November 9, 2026 · Official sources (24)

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Map of Fort Worth showing the hospital area south of downtown where John Peter Smith Hospital and Texas Health Fort Worth are found
Your doctor does not have to report a drug problem to the FDA. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

How do you report a dangerous drug or medical device in Fort Worth?

Use the FDA's MedWatch program, which takes reports of serious reactions and product problems with drugs and medical devices. Your provider is not required to report to the FDA, so you can file the online form yourself.

  1. Keep the bottle, box, label, pharmacy printout and lot number. For a device, keep the implant card and the box.
  2. Write the dates you started and stopped it, and every symptom with its date. Bring the list to each Fort Worth doctor you see.
  3. File a MedWatch report and save the confirmation.
  4. Ask for your records in writing. Providers must act within 30 days. JPS takes requests by MyChart or fax to 817-702-5700, and Texas Health uses Versima.
  5. Do not throw out a removed device. Ask the Fort Worth hospital that removed it to keep it.

Does a Fort Worth drug company change your claim?

Not by itself. The city lists Alcon Laboratories among its largest employers, along with Lockheed Martin, Bell Flight Fort Worth and BNSF. But a claim names whoever made, sold or prescribed the product, wherever they are.

I did not find a recall or case tied to a Fort Worth maker for this page, so it does not name one. If your product came from a local company, a lawyer can check where suit can be filed.

How hard is a drug warning claim in Texas?

QuestionTexas rule
Warning labelIf the warnings were FDA-approved, the maker, seller and prescriber are presumed not liable for a failure-to-warn claim
Beating the presumptionShow the defendant withheld or misrepresented required information to the FDA
Design defectProve a safer alternative design existed
Time limit on the productClaim must start within 15 years of the sale

Rules for devices can differ from rules for drugs, so ask a lawyer which applies, and bring the device records from the Fort Worth hospital that placed it.

What about the doctor, the pharmacy and the hospital?

A claim against a doctor or hospital for how they prescribed or used a product is a health care liability claim. It needs written notice 60 days before suit and an expert report within 120 days after each defendant answers.

You can also complain to the Texas Medical Board about a doctor. Put the complaint in writing and sign it, because anonymous ones are not accepted. Questions can go to the board's call center at 512-305-7030.

How are bills and Medicare handled in a drug injury claim?

For a drug claim, Texas counts medical bills at the amount actually paid or owed. A hospital lien can attach only if you were admitted within 72 hours of the accident. If Medicare paid for the harm, it gets repaid out of any settlement.

Deadlines: generally 2 years to sue. If the patient was a child, the clock can be paused until age 18. If JPS, the Tarrant County Hospital District's hospital, gave the drug, notice is due in 6 months.

Questions

Can I sue if the drug was FDA approved?

Yes, but Texas starts with a presumption against a warning claim, and you must rebut it.

Does my doctor have to report my reaction?

No. That holds for any Fort Worth provider, so file the MedWatch report yourself.

Is there a deadline for an old product?

Yes. Even a drug or implant sold long ago must be sued over within 15 years of the sale, with limited exceptions.

Where do I go for serious injuries?

John Peter Smith Hospital and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth are Level I trauma centers.

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Sources (24)

  1. FDA, Reporting Serious Problems to FDA, checked 2026-11-09. “MedWatch is the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) program for reporting serious reactions, product quality problems, therapeutic inequivalence/failure, and product use errors with human medical products, including drugs, biologic products, medical devices”
  2. FDA, Reporting Serious Problems to FDA, checked 2026-11-09. “Your health care provider is NOT required to report to the FDA.”
  3. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 82.007(a), checked 2026-11-09. “there is a rebuttable presumption that the defendant or defendants, including a health care provider, manufacturer, distributor, and prescriber, are not liable with respect to the allegations involving failure to provide adequate warnings or information if: (1) the warnings or information that accompanied the product in its distribution were those approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration”
  4. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003, checked 2026-11-08. “not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues”
  5. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101, checked 2026-11-08. “not later than six months after the day that the incident giving rise to the claim occurred”
  6. JPS Health Network, About JPS, checked 2026-11-09. “The Tarrant County Hospital District, known as JPS Health Network”
  7. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 82.007(b), checked 2026-11-09. “withheld from or misrepresented to the United States Food and Drug Administration required information that was material and relevant to the performance of the product and was causally related to the claimant's injury”
  8. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.012(b), checked 2026-11-09. “a claimant must commence a products liability action against a manufacturer or seller of a product before the end of 15 years after the date of the sale of the product by the defendant”
  9. 45 CFR 164.524, checked 2026-11-09. “no later than 30 days after receipt of the request”
  10. JPS Health Network, Patient Records, checked 2026-11-08. “You can fax a written request to 817-702-5700.”
  11. Texas Health, Request Medical Records, checked 2026-11-08. “Texas Health has partnered with Versima”
  12. City of Fort Worth, 2025 City Facts, checked 2026-11-09. “n Alcon Laboratories n Bell Flight Fort Worth n Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC”
  13. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 82.005(a), checked 2026-11-09. “the burden is on the claimant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) there was a safer alternative design”
  14. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.051, checked 2026-11-09. “at least 60 days before the filing of a suit”
  15. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.351, checked 2026-11-09. “not later than the 120th day after the date each defendant's original answer is filed”
  16. Texas Medical Board, Complaint Process, checked 2026-11-09. “Complaints must be submitted in writing.”
  17. Texas Medical Board, Complaint Process, checked 2026-11-09. “The Board cannot accept complaints submitted anonymously.”
  18. Texas Medical Board, Consumer page, checked 2026-11-09. “Call (512) 305-7030 to reach a member of the TMB Call Center”
  19. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.0105, checked 2026-11-09. “recovery of medical or health care expenses incurred is limited to the amount actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the claimant”
  20. Tex. Prop. Code § 55.002, checked 2026-11-09. “For the lien to attach, the individual must be admitted to a hospital not later than 72 hours after the accident.”
  21. CMS, checked 2026-11-09. “it must be repaid to Medicare when a settlement, judgment, award, or other payment is made”
  22. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001, checked 2026-11-08. “the time of the disability is not included in a limitations period”
  23. Texas DSHS, Texas Trauma Facilities, checked 2026-11-08. “JOHN PETER SMITH HOSPITAL 11/1/2028 E FORT WORTH 76104”
  24. Texas DSHS, Texas Trauma Facilities, checked 2026-11-08. “TEXAS HEALTH HARRIS METHODIST HOSPITAL FORT WORTH 1/1/2029 E FORT WORTH 76104”

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