Award of Summary Judgment to Planned Parenthood Upheld in Texas IUD Case

HOUSTON — A Texas appellate court has upheld an award of summary judgment to Planned Parenthood in a case involving an intrauterine device that remained in a woman’s uterus while she was pregnant, finding the plaintiff failed to present evidence that the clinic’s alleged negligence caused the claimed damages.

In a July 30 opinion, the Texas 14th Court of Appeals found the plaintiff failed to rule out the woman’s daily cigarette smoking as a potential cause of the plaintiff’s premature birth.

On Dec. 21, 2010, Kristin Gibson, who had given birth six weeks earlier, underwent implantation of an IUD, allegedly …