Ballot Measure Designed to Ensure Doctor Accountability Draws Ire of Medical Malpractice Insurers

 Posted on August 23, 2014 in General

A ballot measure over medical malpractice awards is drawing a lot of attention in California.  Since 1975, the California legislature has arbitrarily limited the cap on damages for victims of medical negligence.  The initiative would increase the cap on certain damages in medical malpractice.  Damage caps have been found unconstitutional in many states, including Illinois.

Not surprisingly, the measure has been met with staunch resistance from insurance companies in California that don’t want to have to compensate innocent victims when doctors they insure negligently maim or injure patients.

Insurance companies and doctors’ advocacy groups have flooded the airways with propaganda to try to defeat the measure.  As one unsurprised consumer watchdog said, the “real question” is why physicians don't believe they should be as “accountable for impairment and their errors as other professions.”