Personal Injury News: Pick Of Last Month: June-2022
Medical Malpractice Lawsuits' Reward Cap Increased In CA
The reward cap of damages in medical malpractice lawsuits has been increased after a fair vote from the legislators in the California legislature, which has resolved one of the most distressing disputes in state politics.
Earlier the maximum money Californians could win from a medical malpractice lawsuit was $250,000, which has been now revised to $350,000 for injured people and $500,000 for the deceased's family.
The amount will keep on increasing until it gets to $750,000 for injured patients and $1 million for families of the deceased patients. The reward cap will keep on increasing by 2% every year to match the inflation. The bill got a vote of 60-0 in the state assembly. It united doctors and lawyers throughout the nation.
As per the last year's analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures, 33 states of the U.S. limit the amount of money people can win in medical malpractice lawsuits, and California is one of them. The limit cannot be applied to damages that can be counted, like lost wages and medical expenses. But it applies to the damages that cannot be calculated, like suffering and pain.
The reward cap for medical malpractice lawsuits has been the hottest issue in California for decades. The trial lawyers and consumer advocates argued that the cap discouraged the patients from filing costly and complex lawsuits.
The bill has even guided some interesting changes to the process of medical malpractice lawsuits. It states that a written note from the doctor expressing sympathy or regret about the pain and suffering of patients cannot be used against them in trials.
$10M Settlement For The Rash Driving Victim From Colombia
A woman has been ordered to pay $10 million to the wife of a man who was killed by her in a rash driving case in Columbia.
As per the lawsuit, the woman was speeding the car while talking on her phone when she went around police escort and hit the victim. The victim succumbed to the injuries on May 5, 2019, six months after the painful suffering.
The woman is charged in a wrongful death lawsuit with charges of involuntary manslaughter and is penalized with $10 million as a fine. In May 2021, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The amount would be given to the victim's wife.
Last month in a similar suit, the defendant was sentenced to be prisoned for 10 years, citing the collision of two SUVs, which resulted in the death of four people. The attorneys for the plaintiffs in the suit argued that the punishment for the defendant was very lenient.
Another incident with similar charges was reported on March 7, 2017, where a 16-year-old Torrance high school baseball player got killed in the collision. The father of the teenager suffered from life-altering injuries. The jury ordered Los Angeles County to pay a $6.5 million settlement to the victims in the suit.
Families of Holyoke Soldiers Home Victims To Get $56M
Massachusetts announced that it would pay a $56 million settlement to the families of the veterans who died or became sick due to the COVID-19 outbreak at a state-run veterans’ care center.
As per the settlement, the veterans who died after contracting COVID-19 will get a minimum of $400,000 each, whereas the veterans who survived after contracting the disease will get a minimum of $10,000. The settlement is yet to get approval from the federal judge.
One of the families' attorneys argues that the issue is so severe that it deprives the veterans of their constitutional rights to be free from harms recklessly created by the government.
The attorney even said that no amount of money could compensate for the suffering of the affected families, nor it will bring back the deceased veterans, but the justice should make sure that the wrongs against the veterans should not go unaddressed. He further added that the settlement acknowledges that the catastrophe was preventable and should not have happened.
As per the previous reports provided by another lawyer representing the plaintiffs, the center recorded the deaths of 76 veterans due to COVID-19, but the further investigation by the state reflects a higher number. Many veterans' death certificates did not mention the cause of death as COVID-19, which resulted in a miscalculation of the deceased's list.
The veterans who lived at the facility between March 1, 2020 and June 23, 2020, and became ill or died due to COVID-19 during the period would be covered under the settlement. Even the attorney fees would be covered under the settlement.
NYC Resolves $10.5M Wrongful Conviction Lawsuit
A man who has spent 24 years in prison on a wrongful murder conviction will get $10.5 million from New York City to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by him.
The man is 47 years old now and was convicted in 1994 for shooting his neighbor a year before the verdict.
The prosecutors relied on the testimony of a woman who said that she saw the victim with a gun in his hand at the scene. There was not any forensic evidence that would claim the victim was guilty. In 2013, the woman recanted her testimony by stating that she was forced by the former detective to give a fake testimony.
As per the court documents, the man was framed in the case by a former detective who had been forcing witnesses and framing the suspects in the crime during the 1980s and 1990s when the crime rate was high. It was the 14th overturned conviction involving the detective.
The victim said that the money could not repay the years he has spent in prison for the crime he did not commit, but he will make sure to look ahead for a bright future by rebuilding his life.
New York City law department's spokesperson said that the settlement will benefit both parties. The city has settled several other cases linked to the detective by paying millions of dollars in settlements, on the other hand, he has denied all the wrongdoings.
Doctor Penalized With $9M Over Fertility Fraud Case
Massachusetts announced that it would pay a $56 million settlement to the families of the veterans who died or became sick due to the COVID-19 outbreak at a state-run veterans’ care center.
As per the settlement, the veterans who died after contracting COVID-19 will get a minimum of $400,000 each, whereas the veterans who survived after contracting the disease will get a minimum of $10,000. The settlement is yet to get approval from the federal judge.
One of the families' attorneys argues that the issue is so severe that it deprives the veterans of their constitutional rights to be free from harms recklessly created by the government.
The attorney even said that no amount of money could compensate for the suffering of the affected families, nor it will bring back the deceased veterans, but the justice should make sure that the wrongs against the veterans should not go unaddressed. He further added that the settlement acknowledges that the catastrophe was preventable and should not have happened.
As per the previous reports provided by another lawyer representing the plaintiffs, the center recorded the deaths of 76 veterans due to COVID-19, but the further investigation by the state reflects a higher number. Many veterans' death certificates did not mention the cause of death as COVID-19, which resulted in a miscalculation of the deceased's list.
The veterans who lived at the facility between March 1, 2020 and June 23, 2020, and became ill or died due to COVID-19 during the period would be covered under the settlement. Even the attorney fees would be covered under the settlement.