California medical malpractice law in spotlight

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California's decadeslong experience with malpractice reform is either a national model or cautionary tale - depending on who you talk to.

The state's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, which was passed by the Legislature in 1975 and signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, caps the amount of damages for non-economic or "pain and suffering" at $250,000, but leaves unlimited the amount plaintiffs can seek for other damages such as medical costs and lost wages. It also doesn't restrict punitive damages, but such awards require proof of a conscious disregard for the safety of a patient and are difficult to obtain in medical claims.

For physicians and malpractice insurance companies, the law, often referred to as MICRA, has helped hold down insurance costs, prevent unreasonably high jury verdicts from sympathetic juries and kept doctors from fleeing the state.

At the same time, they say, the law allows them to be compensated for their true economic losses.

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