A New Rand Group Study About Medical Malpractice & Tort Reform

This article details some of the findings of a new Rand Group study of medical malpractice jury awards in California.

In California, medical malpractice suits are capped at $250,000. That figure seems to be the magic number that most tort reformers aim for. But this study shows that few lawsuits end in verdicts that would be reduced by a $250,000 cap. For example:

42% of death cases didn't receive verdicts of $250,000 or more. Of those that did, the average reduction was 49%, meaning that in most cases where someone died due to medical malpractice, juries didn't even award $500,000.

And this is in "liberal California," the home of the "runaway jury."