Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Legal
February 25, 2022 04:16 PM

Calif. malpractice ruling will have minimal impact on insurance rates, lawyers say

Alex Kacik
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    legal-money1_i_i.png
    MH Illustration/Getty images

    A new ruling, which affirmed California's cap on medical malpractice damages, will not significantly impact providers' insurance rates, legal experts said.

    On Thursday, the California Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision to cut a $4.25 million malpractice award for pain and suffering to the $250,000 state limit for noneconomic damages.

    Marisol Lopez, whose 4-year-old daughter died of melanoma, and her legal team argued that the physician assistants who "negligently overlooked" her daughter's malignant mole operated outside of the scope of their license and were not properly supervised. Thus, the cap didn't apply.

    California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu disagreed with that interpretation, claiming that allowing medical malpractice plaintiffs to avoid the cap in this way would be at odds with its purpose to "control and reduce medical malpractice insurance costs by placing a predictable, uniform limit on a defendant's liability for noneconomic damages."

    "The opinion dealt with a very technical aspect of the law—it's not like this was a case where there was a big constitutional challenge," said Christopher Ryan, of counsel at Dickinson Wright. "I don't think this decision, by itself, will have much impact on rates."

    Around half of U.S. states have malpractice caps on either financial or noneconomic damages, ranging from $250,000 to around $3 million, depending on the severity of the injury. Many states have struck down caps after deeming them unconstitutional, which has led to higher severity and frequency of malpractice claims, said John Hall, founding partner of Hall Booth Smith.

    Download Modern Healthcare’s app to stay informed when industry news breaks.

    "This case will help maintain California's current insurance rates and insulate them from significant increases seen nearly everywhere else," he said.

    California's statutory cap stems back to the 1975 Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, which states that damages for noneconomic losses shall not exceed $250,000 in any malpractice claim based on professional negligence.

    It aimed to prevent doctors from leaving the industry or not performing risky procedures because they couldn't afford alleged rising malpractice premiums. The law has drawn criticism from patient advocates, who claim that it's unjust. In addition, more lawyers have refused to take on cases due to the cap, advocates argued. The evidence is mixed as to whether caps keep medical malpractice insurance rates in check, experts said.

    "You could probably find an equal number of studies on both sides of the issue," Ryan said.

    As for the California case, there are reasonable arguments for excluding unsupervised PAs from a cap on noneconomic damages, Liu wrote in the opinion. But that would be up to the legislature to decide and out of the court's purview, he said.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    NEWS_180709947_AR_-1_BUXUXMLZKOGI.jpg
    Supreme Court denies ERISA suit against Anthem, Express Scripts
    gavel and drugs
    Supreme Court ruling takes side of doctors convicted in pain pill schemes
    Sponsored Content
    Daily Dose Newsletter: Sign up to receive a late afternoon weekday roundup of that day’s breaking news and developments in healthcare.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing