Malpractice Victim Fights To Recover Distress Damages

The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties present such issues to the court.

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this medical malpractice/personal injury case and its proceedings.)

We are, of course, aware of what has been termed a “crisis” in the availability and costs of medical malpractice insurance. Available information indicates that this crisis has affected obstetricians keenly. Such adverse effects have been documented specifically in California. In light of these observations, we realize the imposition of liability in cases such as the one at hand may impose certain societal costs. For several reasons, however, we believe that the impact of our decision recognizing Burgess’s claim against Gupta for damages for emotional distress will not unduly burden the community or health care providers in the field of obstetrics or result in the imposition of damages disproportionate to fault.

First, our Legislature has taken action to alleviate the “crisis” in medical malpractice liability and insurance by enacting the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 … (hereafter MICRA). As a result of MICRA, the amount of noneconomic damages, such as damages for emotional distress, that may be recovered in an action arising from the professional negligence of a health provider is capped at $250,000. (Civ. Code, § 3333.2.) For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Because the Legislature has expressly considered and taken action to ameliorate the impact of increasing costs of liability coverage for health care providers, we are reluctant to further limit recovery in a situation where a plaintiff has suffered a foreseeable injury in the context of her physician-patient relationship. (Id. at 1082-1083, italics added.) (See Part 7 of 7.)

For more information you are welcome to contact personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.