MICRA's Impact On Your Medical Malpractice Claim

Unlike other types of injury cases, one claiming to have been seriously injured as a result of a healthcare provider's negligence will rarely receive full compensation for their injury. This is because California, long before President Bush's call for nationwide tort reform in the area of medical malpractice, enacted legislation limiting your recovery against medical providers.

California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act or "MICRA" was enacted in 1975 by the California Legislature in an effort to control skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums. MICRA's provisions, found at various sections of the Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure and Business Professions Code, was the Legislature's most ambitious tort reform measure of its time. While purportedly designed to make healthcare more readily available and affordable, the effect of this legislation over time has not only been to deprive Californians quality medical care, but to deny them fair recovery in the event of malpractice.

Perhaps the most significant provision of MICRA is Code of Civil Procedure section 3333.2 which limits awards of pain and suffering in medical malpractice actions to $250,000. Over the last decade there has been considerable debate about this limitation in that it was established more than 30-years ago and has never once been increased. When adjusted for inflation, this $250,000 would equal roughly $864,000 today, however, MICRA, when enacted, did not contain any provisions that allowed for increases of the $250,000 cap to account for inflation. It would take therefore take legislative action and approval by our governor before this limitation were raised.

Many clients at EISENBERG LAW GROUP have been victims of medical malpracticeand, as a result, have been rendered quadriplegics, paraplegics, or otherwise left wheelchair bound and/or brain injured. Notwithstanding the nature and extent of their injuries and the dramatic effect their injuries have had upon their lives and the lives of their loved ones (often responsible for their day-to-day care), their recovery for pain and suffering has been limited by law to $250,000. There is no limitation in California on the recovery of special damages (e.g. medical expenses, loss of earnings, etc.) in a medical malpractice action however, MICRA does permit a medical provider, in the event of an adverse judgment, to make periodic payments on any monetary award over $50,000. [Code of Civil Procedure section 667.7.] Naturally, this can result in a delay in compensation to the patient victim.