In 1975, doctors in California helped push through legislation limiting the amount of damages victims of medical malpractice could obtain from lawsuits. This resulted in the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). MICRA caps the amount of recovery a victim of medical malpractice can obtain for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and emotional distress at $250,000. However, economic damages remain unlimited. Economic damages include such items as medical care and lost wages, including a life time of lost wages and medical care necessary for some victims, such as a child who becomes paralyzed for life due to medical negligence resulting in a birth injury.
Unfortunately MICRA has not changed or even increased since 1975 because of the difficulties of convincing the legislature to do so. This includes a very powerful lobby against any kind of increases from the California Medical Association and California Hospital Association. So the limitation on non-economic damages in California has basically resulted in decreased value of pain and suffering and emotional distress since 1975, however the cost of increased medical care has increased so much and so dramatically since 1975 that the economic damages which have not been limited in California still result in very sizable damages for victims of medical malpractice, especially when we are talking about the cost of future medical care.
A birth injury victim with severe cerebral palsy will likely require 24 hours a day, 7 days a week medical care for his or her entire life time. This may require a full time care giver to handle everyday activities from feeding to bathing to dressing. Also this victim will likely require expensive medical care and treatment for the rest of his or her life. The amount of care and resources for a victim like this may be well into the millions of dollars over his or her lifetime. In addition to medical care, there is the amount of lost wages a victim of medical malpractice loses for a lifetime of being out of work. This is why a victim of medical malpractice in California may receive a multi-million dollar verdict or settlement, when the cap on medical malpractice awards for non-economic damages is $250,000 maximum recovery.
