A Beverly Hills law firm recently filed at least five lawsuits against hospitals and other providers in California, challenging the constitutionality of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act’s (MICRA’s) $250,000 pain-and-suffering damages cap and its limits on contingency attorneys’ fees applicable in medical malpractice cases.
These lawsuits are often filed on behalf of plaintiffs in separate malpractice lawsuits against the providers, but sometimes on behalf of alleged victims of medical malpractice who claim to be unable to find an attorney to represent them because of the MICRA damages and attorneys’ fees limitations. The law firm bringing these lawsuits, Carpenter, Zuckerman & Rowley, is also named as a plaintiff in each of them.
It has been reported that the law firm filing these lawsuits plans to file dozens more throughout the state in the hope of finding one or more courts willing to invalidate these key MICRA protections.
These protections have safeguarded providers and reduced malpractice insurance costs since MICRA was enacted in 1975. Therefore, it is critical that a vigorous and coordinated defense be mounted to ensure that none of the lawsuits succeeds.
If your hospital is a party to, or you are aware of any other lawsuit filed by this law firm challenging the constitutionality of these MICRA provisions, please immediately notify Jackie Garman at jgarman@calhospital.org or (916) 552-7636.