Consumer advocate groups in California recently announced that they have accumulated sufficient signatures to place a motion with the goal to raise the amount given to victims of medical malpractice to $1.1 million.
The proposed revision was spearheaded by Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocate group based in Santa Monica and several trial lawyers. The current state cap for medical malpractice awards is at $250,000. Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, submitted the collected signatures on Sunday.
"We are waiting at the behest of legislative leaders to go forth and put these signatures in across the state," Court told Reuters during a telephone interview. He also added that supporters of their cause have collected 840,000 signatures, significantly higher number than the 505,000 signatures required by the law.
The state cap for medical malpractice awards was finalized in 1970s and since then, it was not adjusted to consider the inflation rate. Legal representatives of malpractice victims have tried to convince the state to increase the cap for years, but their pleas remained unanswered. Propositions to increase the state cap were opposed by the California Medical Association and other organizations representing the doctors.
"A ballot measure that is certain to generate more medical lawsuits and drive up costs for every health consumer in California is the worst possible idea at the worst possible time," Richard Thorp, California Medical Association President expressed in a statement as reported by Reuters.
Aside from increasing the amount for pain-and -suffering awards, the proposal will also require random drug test for doctors. This is in lieu of the issue regarding over-prescription and use of pain medications among patients and doctors.
Last week, sources close to the negotiations said that the doctors' representatives nearly agreed to raising the cap to $500,000, but both parties failed to finalize their agreement. This led the Consumer Watchdog and the Consumer Attorneys of California to start a signature campaign.
