Fairness Act
The father of a 30-year-old man disabled for life by medical negligence when he was two, and the parents of a young girl with life-long disabilities who await their daughter’s medical negligence trial, have qualified the Fairness for Injured Patients Act (FIPA) for the November 2022 California ballot.
Californians harmed by medical negligence can’t get justice because of a cap set in 1975 by the state legislature that limits compensation for lost quality of life and wrongful death, and has never been updated.
The cap hurts every Californian, but disproportionately harms Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people, low-income patients, women, and children.
Meet campaign chair Charles Johnson, whose wife Kira died after giving birth when her bladder was cut and her complaints of pain were negligently ignored for 10 hours.
The Fairness for Injured Patients Act (FIPA) would adjust the maximum $250,000 compensation cap for inflation, allows judges and jurors to decide that compensation above the cap is appropriate in certain cases of catastrophic injury or death, and requires that juries be informed about the existence of the cap.
Meet FIPA proponent Scott Olsen and his 30-year-old son Steven, who has permanent brain damage from medical negligence when he was two.
Meet FIPA proponents Nelson and Bree Moreno and their daughter Mia, who has cerebral palsy and will never be independent due to medical negligence.
Meet more patients denied justice in California because of the 45-year-old limits on patient rights.
- Consumer Watchdog endorses the Fairness for Injured Patients Act to win equal justice for survivors of medical negligence. Read the press release.
- Learn more about the 45-year-old cap
- Newspaper editorial boards agree it’s time to adjust the cap
- Most states in America do not have caps like California's
- Medical negligence caps harm women of color
- Questions and Answers About the Fairness for Injured Patients Act
- Read the Fairness for Injured Patients Act
- The discriminatory impact of caps on communities of color
Fairness Act on November 2022 Ballot Will Restore Accountability That Medical Board Does Not Provide Injured Patients
07/14/2021 - 08:59
Los Angeles, CA – The must-see documentary “Never Events,” that follows the journey of multiple families who fought for change after suffering lifelong harm or loss due to medical negligence, debuts this week on Amazon, Apple TV and other streaming services.
07/01/2021 - 11:16
NEWS UPDATE: June 3, 2021
06/01/2021 - 12:59
Sacramento, CA – California lawmakers have moved legislation to the Senate Floor to make California the first state in the nation whose Medical Board has a majority of public, not doctor, members.
05/26/2021 - 09:36
Los Angeles, CA – California is worse than two-thirds of states in the country when it comes to disciplining doctors whose negligence or incompetence causes patients serious harm, according to a new report by the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. The report comes
04/08/2021 - 09:32
Sacramento, CA – Consumer Watchdog and a dozen Fairness for Injured Patients campaign advocates who were harmed by medical negligence and failed by the Medical Board of California will call on the legislature to turn control of the doctor-run Board over to the public, in testimony on Fri
03/18/2021 - 09:57
Manteca, CA -- A coalition of Central Valley racial justice groups announced their endorsement of the Fairness for Injured Patients Act, the 2022 ballot initiative to update California’s discriminatory cap on compensation for patients harmed by medical negligence.
Sacramento, CA – Two former leaders of the California Medical Association should be rejected as nominees to the Medical Board of California for their records opposing common sense patient safety reforms, Consumer Watchdog will testify at their confirmation hearing today.
02/03/2021 - 10:06
Sacramento, CA – Consumer Watchdog renewed its call for Governor Gavin Newsom to withdraw the nomination of Dr. Richard Thorp, former president of the doctors’ lobby, to the Medical Board of California.
01/13/2021 - 11:11
