David Saucedo and his wife filed a motion with the Texas Supreme Court in June 2022 after Judge Selena Solis ruled that an affidavit included in the original lawsuit must be removed from the public record. Central to the controversy is the so-called Mayes affidavit. The Mayes Affidavit (read the affidavit) was provided by Thomas Mayes, the doctor contracted by the El Paso Children’s Hospital to evaluate doctors who want to practice at the children’s hospital. Mayes wrote in his affidavit that he deemed Roberto Canales as “unqualified to practice pediatric critical care medicine,” adding that the doctor “presents a real danger to his patients and should be removed from the practice of medicine.”
Canales is central to the Saucedo’s case alleging malpractice at the El Paso Children’s Hospital that led to the death of their 3-year-old daughter.
After Solis ruled that any mention of the Mayes Affidavit was to be removed from the public court docket, the Saucedos appealed the ruling. They are now before the Texas Supreme Court.
After the Court recently granted additional time to file their responses to Roberto Canales and Rodolfo Fierro-Stevens, the two doctors asked for a second delay from the Texas Supreme Court to file their responses. Both doctors are included in the lawsuit filed by the Saucedos.
On January 17, the Texas Supreme Court granted a second delay to the two doctors of seven days. In their order, the Supreme Court added in bold face type that “FURTHER REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS OF TIME FOR THIS FILING WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.” (emphasis in original)
Canales and Fierro-Stevens now have until Thursday, January 25 to file their brief. The Saucedos were given until February 9 to reply to the brief that the two doctors will file on Thursday.
It is not known when the Texas Supreme Court will hold hearings and rule on the issue of whether it is appropriate for a judge to order an affidavit detrimental to the doctors and El Paso Children’s Hospital be removed from the public record.
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The Saucedo lawsuit alleges that their daughter died as a result of the negligence of the children’s hospital and Canales’ lack of delivering proper medical care. Mayes, a doctor with first-hand knowledge of Canales’ medical credentials, has written that Canales is a “danger to his patients.” Rather than address this statement, the attorneys for the doctors and the children’s hospital have litigated that the document should kept from public view arguing that it is confidential information that the El Paso community should not know about.
El Paso News will continue to monitor this case and report when additional information becomes available.