AUSTIN – The state's largest Medicaid insurance company refused to pay for nursing that a foster baby with severe birth defects needed. As a result, state records show, the baby suffered a catastrophic brain injury that left him in a vegetative state, unable to ever speak for himself.

After the tragic case of D'ashon Morris was exposed in a Dallas Morning News investigation last year, Linda Badawo, his adoptive mother, sued that insurance company. Now, in an effort to kill that lawsuit, Superior HealthPlan's lawyers are arguing the Badawo family is essentially suing to bully the multi-billion-dollar company and "chill" its right to free speech.

Bradley Hancock, the lawyer representing Superior, argued before the state's Third Court of Appeals Wednesday that the case should be thrown out because of a Texas law that prevents powerful people and companies from silencing critics by burying them in costly lawsuits.

Chief Justice Jeff Rose, who led the three-judge panel, expressed immediate skepticism.

"This seems like it's off the charts in terms of stretching" the Texas Citizens Participation Act, the judge said, referring to Texas' version of what's called an anti-SLAPP law (that stands for "strategic lawsuit against public participation").

Hancock argued that law applies because much of Badawo's case relies on communications between the company and the Texas health commission. Allowing Badawo's case to proceed, he said, "would have a chilling impact" on Superior, one of more than a dozen companies that Texas pays $22 billion a year to provide health benefits to millions of extremely poor, disabled and elderly people.

By filing an anti-SLAPP motion, Superior not only delays a potentially damaging trial but also stops Badawo's team of lawyers from getting company records through discovery until a final ruling is made.

Hancock also represents Dr. William Brendle Glomb, the former state health official and Superior medical director who fought to limit how many hours of home nursing D'ashon could receive, saving the company as much as $500 a day.

Badawo and her attorneys accuse Superior, owned by Missouri-based Centene Corp., of improperly denying round-the-clock nursing for the boy to boost its profits, even though his doctor and nurses had documented his dangerous habit of pulling out his breathing tube. One morning in October 2016, when his nurse wasn't on duty, D'ashon yanked out his breathing tube, cutting off oxygen to his brain. Nurses and paramedics performed CPR for 40 minutes, medical records show, and he was later found to be in "a persistent vegetative state."

State records obtained by The News showed health officials had determined Superior had improperly denied nursing to D'ashon and other severely sick children. State nurses recommended fines for what happened to D'ashon, records show, but none were ever assessed.

"Superior has taken actions to basically cause my client harm," said Casey Low, Badawo's lawyer. "He can't speak anymore and, frankly, their claim that he's causing their free speech to be lost is quite wrong."

Texas' anti-SLAPP law has several exceptions that keep it from being a wrench in certain types of cases, including cases involving bodily injury. Judges repeatedly asked how D'ashon's case wasn't about bodily injury.

"Wouldn't you agree that there's bodily injury in this case?" asked Judge Edward Smith.

"I would agree there is bodily injury," Superior's lawyer said, before arguing that what happened to D'ashon was not "connected" to the claims brought by the family against the company.

"We're not contending there wasn't some grievous injury to a minor," he added.

Each side presented for 20 minutes. The court could issue a ruling in the coming days. If the company loses, it might appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, which can choose whether or not to hear the case. If Badawo prevails, the two parties would be set to face off in a trial in Austin.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards away in the Texas Capitol, lawmakers are poised to pass several laws in response to Medicaid horror stories like D'ashon's. Several bills aim to address problems in Medicaid managed care, a system in which Texas pays billions up front to companies to handle Medicaid, allowing it to profit off of what doesn't get spent on patients.

After the hearing, Badawo's lawyer called the company's free speech argument "obscene."

"I think the skepticism right off the bat shows they're not entertaining this delusion," Low said.

Hancock did not provide further comment on behalf of Superior or Glomb.