Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
SACRAMENTO, CA— In a historic event, Governor Gavin Newsom gathered with legislators, patients, the California Medical Association, watchdog groups, Consumer Attorneys, and patient advocate groups to sign AB 35, which represents the long-awaited modernization of California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, known as MICRA.
For almost 50 years, Californians who have been victims of medical negligence or medical malpractice have been limited on their recourse because of the MICRA law, which was signed into law in 1975 by then Governor Jerry Brown. The intent of the law was to stop the rising costs of medical malpractice insurance and increased complaints of physicians leaving the profession. It limited a victim’s non-economic recovery to $250,000 without regard to the egregiousness of the injury even if it resulted in death.
“Advocates and stakeholders have been fighting for years to update the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act. This year they have succeeded. For almost five decades, families and patients have complained that they are not equitably compensated for their pain and suffering because of a limit put in place 47 years ago – without adjustment for inflation, that changes today,” said Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes. “Today is a historic day, the signing of AB 35 into law signals to all Californians that our state will continue to put equity and justice first.”
“For decades, medically injured patients suffered from both the pain of being wrongfully injured and the unfairness of a system that severely restricted their access to justice. With Governor Newsom’s signature on AB 35, a 50-year battle, led by injured patients and their families to restore justice to California’s MICRA law, is finally resulting in a better outcome. This historic agreement will ensure patients are more fairly compensated when their rights have been violated,” said Craig M. Peters, President of CAOC.
Families and patients have not given up and have continued the fight to increase these limits. With success, AB 35, authored by Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Reyes along with Senator Tom Umberg was passed by both houses with bipartisan support and signed by Governor Newsom. Beginning on January 1, 2023, AB 35 will usher in a new period of increased recovery for pain and suffering for the next 10 years with a cost-of-living adjustment thereafter.
