Shrugging off a recent failed legal challenge to California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, an organization of lawyers formerly affiliated with the State Bar has passed a resolution calling for a change in MICRA's limits in certain cases.
But in the midst of intense public interest in the issue of health care availability, the personal injury lawyers' push to change MICRA has done nothing to show how such a change would benefit Californians.
In August, the California Supreme Court declined to review a lower-court ruling that fully backed MICRA. The state high court's action in Van Buren v. Evans showed that the justices found no novel issues in the Fifth District Court of Appeal's support for MICRA in the face of the personal injury lawyers' campaign to paint the 1975 legislation as constitutionally flawed. Then, in September, the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations (which is now funded by voluntary contributions, not state bar mandatory dues) voted to pursue an idea that MICRA's cap of $250,000 for non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases should be eliminated if a defendant rejects an offer to settle for that amount and then loses at trial or arbitration for more.
The personal injury lawyers' activity over the summer gave them a fresh opportunity to go before the media with their opposition to MICRA, which at times includes the mythical proposition that the law keeps people with meritorious cases from finding attorneys. In a well-reported TV segment that aired in the state capital, however, a Sacramento pediatrician clearly articulated the message that MICRA benefits all Californians by keeping medical professional liability costs down.
"MICRA stabilized that situation and provided a mechanism of compensating patients fairly, while still preserving access for patients to quality, affordable medical care," Dr. Paul Phinney said in the segment that aired August 10. Dr. Phinney is a physician with Kaiser Permanente and is active in the leadership of the California Medical Association.
Dr. Phinney explained the risks to patient care if the law were changed: "The more money that is pulled out of health care into the pockets of personal injury lawyers, the less money is available for health care."
Trial lawyers may pursue legal appeals and trade-association resolutions to voice their opposition to MICRA, but when plain-speaking doctors like Dr. Phinney get their chance to be heard, the public ends up the winner.
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Gordon Ownby is general counsel of the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc., www.cap-mpt.com, and can be reached at gownby@cap-mpt.com.