Sacramento Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)

It is also worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.

There are additional problems with a reduction for saved necessities in lost years damages. First, the failure to award plaintiff his full compensation for his lost years damages flies right in the face of the rationale laid out in Hurlbut, which is to provide the injured person with the use of a specific pool of funds during his lifetime. Second, as Professor Fleming's article also identifies, there is a clear distinction that is made in the recoverable damages in a personal injury action and in a wrongful death action. The distinction between recoveries in personal death actions and wrongful death actions cannot be clearer than the situation here - and as noted above in Overly. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Further, plaintiffs are bringing a personal injury action against defendants. On the basis of this being a personal injury action, defendants can request periodic payments pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 667.7. What is more, as was shown earlier, section 667.7 only has application and relevance in personal injury actions.

Therefore, it is completely illogical to apply concepts and rules that only have application in the context of wrongful death cases, in order to place a limitation upon "lost years" damages, when the law makes a clear distinction between personal injury and wrongful death actions and where periodic payments can only be utilized in such personal injury actions.

Continue reading " Sacramento Parents File Medical Malpractice Suit To Recover For Son's Permanent Injuries, Part 8 of 8 " »

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)

It is also worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.

LATER CASE OF HURLBUT HAS AFFIRMED THAT "LOST YEARS" ARE NOT SUBJECT TO PERIODIC PAYMENTS

That later time came four (4) years later, when the court of appeals for the Fifth District had an occasion to revisit the lost years area. In Hurlbut v. Sonora Community Hospital (1989) 207 Cal. App.3d 388, the court, relying upon the California Supreme Court decision in Fein, upheld the finding of lost years damages so as to allow the injured party the use of a specific pool of funds. (Id. at 405.) For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

The court in Hurlbut, like the court in Fein, was again willing to strike out boldly in the area of loss of future earnings and its non-application to periodic payments, by categorizing the concept of "lost years" to be an exception to Code of Civil Procedure section 667.7. Ordinarily, under section 667.7, when a medical malpractice action results in an award for future damages, the trial court must order periodic payments on request. (Id. at 405.) However, where damages for future loss of earnings are concerned, a limited exception to this rule applies insofar as the award is for loss of earnings attributable to the plaintiff's lost years (the period by which his life expectancy was diminished as the result of the defendant's negligence). (Id. 405-406.)

Further, even though Fein left the issue of what deductions should be made for the saved cost of necessities from the plaintiff's lost years recovery, the court in Hurlbut also chose not rule upon this issue. The court in Hurlbut, however, provided more justification behind its decision not to rule on the issue, than did the Fein court.

Continue reading " Family Fights For Damage Award For Malpractice By Sacramento Hospital, Part 5 of 8 " »

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)

It is also worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.

CALIFORNIA HAS NOW REJECTED THE "SAVED COST OF NECESSITIES" ARGUMENT; THE "LOST YEARS" AWARD SHOULD NOT BE REDUCED BY THE "SAVED COST OF NECESSITIES"

For years, the law on the "lost years" exception to periodic payments judgments is essentially controlled by two (2) California Cases, Fein and Hurlbut. As noted above, these cases failed to place any limitation or restrictions upon this exception, even though such issue was squarely before the court on both occasions. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Now in August 1999, the First District has ruled on the issue of saved costs of necessities. In Overly v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc. (1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 164, the defense argued that even if [Plaintiff] was entitled to damages for the loss of his future economic benefits [the 'lost years' damages], the future economic damage award should have been reduced to account for the [Plaintiffs'] personal consumption during the lost years. The defense "conceding that there is no California authority on point," argued "policy." (Id. at p. 174.)

Both the trial court and the Court of Appeal rejected the policy argument:

Continue reading " Sacramento Doctors Fight Medical Malpractice Damage Award, Part 6 of 8 " »