California tort reform shaken by abuse laws as court creates inpatient loophole

States with proven tort reforms routinely fight lawsuits designed to erode physician protections.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. May 17, 2004.

California physicians are bracing for what they fear could be a whirlwind of lawsuits making claims for punitive damages that will be exempt from the state's nationally recognized tort reform protections.

The California Supreme Court recently decided that the strict rules that plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases have to follow to ask for punitive damages don't apply in cases alleging wrongdoing under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act.

The court said elder abuse claims go beyond the typical professional negligence claims made in medical malpractice lawsuits and that people who commit egregious acts shouldn't be afforded the same protections they would receive in a case dealing solely with medical malpractice.

The ruling has doctors especially concerned because a state appellate court in 2003 defined a dependent adult to include any person between 18 and 64 years who is admitted as an inpatient to a 24-hour health facility.

"We think it's an unfortunate decision," California Medical Assn. legal counsel Susan L. Penney said. "[This ruling] will draw allegations of elder abuse in every malpractice case, so that plaintiffs have leverage to file for punitive damages."

If elder and dependent adult abuse charges are increasingly tacked on to traditional medical malpractice cases, the CMA expects there will be more meritless claims made for punitive damages.

That could result in more doctors settling claims rather than taking their chances before a jury.