California fails to raise medical malpractice cap by floyd arthur http://carmoongroup.com Is California’s Medical Malpractice Cap Too Low? The California initiative was co-authored by Bob Pack, a father whose two children were struck and killed by a woman who was driving while under the influence of prescription pain killers and the muscle relaxant Flexeril in 2005. After the incident, Pack and his wife, who was also injured in the accident, learned that the woman had been arrested four times in the past for DUI. Incensed, they tried to sue the doctors who had supplied her with the drugs. No attorney would take the Pack’s case, citing the state’s low non-economic damage cap as the cause. (Attorney’s typically take cases like the Pack’s on contingency, taking a portion of any award as their fee.) Nor is the Pack’s case unusual. California’s “pain and suffering” cap is often given as the reason why attorneys avoid medical malpractice cases involving the poor, children or the elderly, who are unlikely to recover substantial economic awards. (The state has no cap on economic or punitive damages.) Proponents of Prop. 46 pointed to cases like Pack’s as reason enough to change the law, adding that California’s draconian damage cap—the lowest in the nation—has been in effect since 1975. By contrast, most states have non-economic damage limits in the range of $300,000 to $600,000, and 15 states and the District of Columbia have no caps at all. Nonetheless, opponents of the measure warned that quadrupling the state’s medical malpractice cap all at once would have disastrous results, resulting in more lawsuits and higher malpractice insurance premiums for physicians. Further, they claimed, higher premiums for doctors would drive up health care costs and even force some of physicians to leave the state. A barrage of advertisements, funded in part by physician groups, told consumers that the law could increase health insurance premiums by $1,000 per year. Floyd Arthur #floydarthur http://floyd-arthur.com

1. CALIFORNIA FAILS TO RAISE
MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CAP BY
FLOYD ARTHUR
www.CarmoonGroup.com and www.Floyd-Arthur.com

2. A CONTROVERSIAL BALLOT MEASURE
THAT WOULD HAVE RAISED THE CAP ON
DAMAGE AWARDS FOR PAIN AND
SUFFERING

3. IN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CLAIMS WAS
DEFEATED LAST MONTH IN CALIFORNIA.
THE MEASURE, PROPOSITION 46,

4. WOULD HAVE RAISED THE AMOUNT
PATIENTS WHO PREVAIL IN A MEDICAL
MALPRACTICE CASES CAN RECEIVE FOR
NON-

5. ECONOMIC DAMAGES FROM $250,000TO
$1.1 MILLION. IT ALSO CALLED FOR DRUG
TESTING OF PHYSICIANS WITHIN 12

6. HOURS OF AN "ADVERSE EVENT" AND
RANDOMLY IF THERE WERE SUSPICIONS
OF DRUG USE, AND REQUIRED
PHYSICIANS

7. TO CONSULT A STATEWIDE DATABASE
BEFORE PRESCRIBING DRUGS WITH A
HIGH POTENTIAL FOR ABUSE.

9. IS CALIFORNIA'S MEDICAL
MALPRACTICE CAP TOO LOW?

10. THE CALIFORNIA INITIATIVE WAS CO-
AUTHORED BY BOB PACK, A FATHER
WHOSE TWO CHILDREN WERE STRUCK
AND

11. KILLED BY A WOMAN WHO WAS DRIVING
WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF
PRESCRIPTION PAIN KILLERS AND THE
MUSCLE

12. RELAXANT FLEXERIL IN 2005. AFTER THE
INCIDENT, PACK AND HIS WIFE, WHO WAS
ALSO INJURED IN THE ACCIDENT,

13. LEARNED THAT THE WOMAN HAD BEEN
ARRESTED FOUR TIMES IN THE PAST FOR
DUI. INCENSED, THEY TRIED TO SUE THE

14. DOCTORS WHO HAD SUPPLIED HER
WITH THE DRUGS.

15. NO ATTORNEY WOULD TAKE THE PACK'S
CASE, CITING THE STATE'S LOW NON-
ECONOMIC DAMAGE CAP AS THE CAUSE.

16. (ATTORNEY'S TYPICALLY TAKE CASES
LIKE THE PACK'S ON CONTINGENCY,
TAKING A PORTION OF ANY AWARD AS
THEIR FEE.)

17. NOR IS THE PACK'S CASE UNUSUAL.
CALIFORNIA'S "PAIN AND SUFFERING"
CAP IS OFTEN GIVEN AS THE REASON
WHY

18. ATTORNEYS AVOID MEDICAL
MALPRACTICE CASES INVOLVING THE
POOR, CHILDREN OR THE ELDERLY, WHO
ARE UNLIKELY

19. TO RECOVER SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC
AWARDS. (THE STATE HAS NO CAP ON
ECONOMIC OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES.)

20. PROPONENTS OF PROP. 46 POINTED TO
CASES LIKE PACK'S AS REASON ENOUGH
TO CHANGE THE LAW, ADDING THAT

21. CALIFORNIA'S DRACONIAN DAMAGE CAP-
THE LOWEST IN THE NATION-HAS BEEN IN
EFFECT SINCE 1975. BY CONTRAST,

22. MOST STATES HAVE NON-ECONOMIC
DAMAGE LIMITS IN THE RANGE OF
$300,000 TO $600,000, AND 15 STATES
AND

23. THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HAVE
NO CAPS AT ALL.

24. NONETHELESS, OPPONENTS OF THE
MEASURE WARNED THAT QUADRUPLING
THE STATE'S MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CAP
ALL

25. AT ONCE WOULD HAVE DISASTROUS
RESULTS, RESULTING IN MORE LAWSUITS
AND HIGHER MALPRACTICE INSURANCE

26. PREMIUMS FOR PHYSICIANS. FURTHER,
THEY CLAIMED, HIGHER PREMIUMS FOR
DOCTORS WOULD DRIVE UP HEALTH

27. CARE COSTS AND EVEN FORCE SOME OF
PHYSICIANS TO LEAVE THE STATE. A
BARRAGE OF ADVERTISEMENTS, FUNDED
IN

28. PART BY PHYSICIAN GROUPS, TOLD
CONSUMERS THAT THE LAW COULD
INCREASE HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS
BY $1,000 PER YEAR.

29. IS PHYSICIAN DRUG USE A FACTOR
IN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE?

30. SOMEWHAT SURPRISINGLY, THE SECOND
FEATURE OF CALIFORNIA'S
CONTROVERSIAL MEASURE-RANDOM
PHYSICIAN

31. DRUG TESTING -HAD THE MOST POPULAR
SUPPORT. HOWEVER, BOTH MEDICAL AND
LEGAL EXPERTS CALLED THE

32. PROVISION "FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED."
FIRST, THEY POINTED OUT, MEDICAL
MALPRACTICE IS RARELY EVIDENT

33. IMMEDIATELY. MANY ERRORS, (FOR
EXAMPLE, MISSED OR MISTAKEN
DIAGNOSES) TAKE MONTHS TO APPEAR.
THUS,

34. THE LAW'S PROVISION REQUIRING DRUG
TESTING WITHIN 12 HOURS OF AN
"ADVERSE" EVENT WAS UNREALISTIC
AND FAR

35. TOO RESTRICTIVE.

36. ADDITIONALLY, THERE IS LITTLE
EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE ALLEGATION
MADE BY SOME OF THE PROPOSITION'S

37. PROPONENTS THAT A SIGNIFICANT
NUMBER OF IMPAIRED DOCTORS EXIST.
ESTIMATES OF THE DEGREE OF
SUBSTANCE

38. ABUSE AMONG HEALTHCARE
PROFESSIONALS VARY WIDELY.
HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO A 2007
REPORT RELEASED BY THE

39. U.S. SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL
HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION,
ABOUT 100,000 DOCTORS, NURSES,

40. MEDICAL TECHNICIANS AND HEALTH CARE
AIDES ABUSE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS OR
ALCOHOL EACH YEAR. GIVEN THAT

41. THERE ARE CURRENTLY 878,000
LICENSED PHYSICIANS, 2.7 MILLION
WORKING NURSES, AND ABOUT 15,000
MEDICAL

42. TECHNICIANS, NURSE ASSISTANTS AND
OTHER ANCILLARY STAFF IN THE UNITED
STATES, THAT TRANSLATES TO AN
INFINITE

43. SMALL PERCENTAGE OF CAREGIVERS
NATIONWIDE.

44. MEDICAL MALPRACTICE AND
PRESCRIBING

45. PRACTICES

46. THE FINAL PORTION OF THE FAILED
PROPOSAL SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE
LEAST CONTROVERSIAL - A PROVISION
MANDATING

47. THAT DOCTORS CHECK THE CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCE UTILIZATION REVIEW AND
EVALUATION SYSTEM (CURES)

48. DATABASE BEFORE PRESCRIBING
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. THE
DATABASE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2009 - A
JOINT EFFORT

49. BETWEEN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE AND THE STATE. HOWEVER,
PARTICIPATION IN THE SYSTEM, WHICH IS

50. AVAILABLE TO BOTH PRESCRIBERS AND
PHARMACIES AND IS MEANT TO ALERT
THEM WHEN PATIENTS ARE FILLING

51. MULTIPLE PRESCRIPTIONS FOR
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, IS
VOLUNTARY, AND UTILIZATION HAS BEEN
LOW.

52. MAKING USE OF THE ALREADY EXISTING
DATABASE MANDATORY, PROPONENTS
ARGUED, COULD IN THEORY PREVENT THE

53. KIND OF OVERPRESCRIBING OF
DANGEROUS MEDICINES THAT LED TO
DAVID PACK'S CHILDREN'S DEATHS.

54. NONETHELESS, OPPONENTS OF PROP.
46, FUNDED AN AD CAMPAIGN AGAINST
THE USE OF CURES, CALLING IT

55. "VULNERABLE TO HACKERS," AND
WARNING CALIFORNIANS THAT THEIR
PERSONAL MEDICAL INFORMATION COULD
BE

56. SUBJECT TO UNWANTED SCRUTINY IF THE
PROPOSITION PASSED. (THE ADS
IGNORED THE FACT THAT CURES HAD
BEEN

57. EXISTENCE FOR 6 YEARS AND HAD
NEVER BEEN HACKED.)

58. DESPITE THE FAILURE OF THE LAW,
DAVID PACK AND OTHER PROPONENTS
OF PROP. 46 HAVE VOWED TO BRING A

59. SIMILAR MEASURE BACK TO THE
VOTERS NEXT YEAR.

60. MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IS A COMPLEX
ISSUE, AND-REGARDLESS OF HOW HIGH
OR LOW DAMAGE CAPS ARE IN YOUR

61. STATE-NO PROVIDER WANTS TO BE SUED.
NONETHELESS, ERRORS AND LAWSUITS
HAPPEN, WHICH IS WHY

62. COMPREHENSIVE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
INSURANCE IS A MUST. WHETHER YOU
ARE CURRENTLY UNINSURED AND

63. NEED HELP MAKING A DECISION ABOUT
COVERAGE OR HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT A
POLICY THAT'S ALREADY IN PLACE, FEEL

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INSURANCE REVIEW TODAY. WE ARE
AVAILABLE MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

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