Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)
It is also worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.
The later case of Hurlbut has affirmed that lost years are not subject to periodic payments. Later authority has affirmed that the lost years award is an exception to the rule of periodic payments under Civil Procedure section 667.7 (Hurlbut v. Sonora Community Hospital (1989) 207 Cal. App.3d 388.) For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
California has now rejected the defense argument of saved costs of necessities. The “lost years” should not be reduced by the “saved cost of necessities.” Defense counsel may argue that the “lost years” award should be reduced by the amount saved because of a reduced life expectancy. The First District has now held the majority view is that no deduction is made for the injured part’s expected living expenses during the lost years. (Overly, supra, 74 Cal.App.4th at p. 175.) No court has endorsed the approach that would deny lost years damages because it is the widespread practice to award the plaintiff full compensation for his lost years damages (Fleming, The Lost Years: A Problem in the Computation and Distribution of Damages (1962) 50 Cal.L.Rev. 598). (See Part 3 of 8.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.