Health Care & Hospital Law
Nov. 17, 2010
Withdrawal of Life Support and Medical Malpractice: The Unethical Dilemma
California's limit on non-economic damages creates an incentive for doctors to discontinue care.
Bruce G. Fagel
Law Offices of Bruce G. Fagel & AssociatesPhone: (310) 516-9035
Email: brucefagel@fagellaw.com
Whittier College School of Law
Bruce G. Fagel is licensed to practice medicine and is founder of the Law Offices of Bruce G. Fagel & Associates. He served as a consultant on medical malpractice law to the California Judicial Counsel Committee, which wrote the new CACI jury instructions. He can be reached at brucefagel@fagellaw.com
One of the most perverse of the many unintended consequences of California's limit on non-economic damages in medical negligence cases is that it creates a financial incentive for doctors and hospitals to "bury their mistakes." When the cause of a patient's condition is negligent care, the physicians and hospital have a very large financial interest to discontinue care and allow the patient to die. No doctor, nurse, or hospital executive would ever admit that they have a financial intere...
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