Heading to the California Senate Floor is a bill that would increase the number of state Medical Board members from 15 to 17 and would change the majority to public members, rather than physicians.
The bill is in response to the increasing appeals for added public representation from families who have suffered from medical negligence and have been denied accountability by the Medical Board and the state's almost five-decades-old cap on compensation for injured patients.
"The Medical Board failed my daughter and many other young mothers and babies," Tracy Dominguez of Bakersfield said during the Sunset Review hearing, according to Cision PR Newswire. "The current system is broken. We need a change, and I believe a public-board-member majority is the change we need. It is a starting point to rebuild the public's confidence in a Board that puts the livelihood of doctors over the value of human life."
A Public Citizen analysis revealed that throughout the country, California ranked 33rd when it comes to taking action in disciplining doctors.
Senate Bill 806, amending the Medical Practice Act, must be voted on by Friday, June 4.
Additionally, the families are also advocating for The Fairness for Injured Patients Act (FIPA). According to Consumer Watchdog, FIPA would adjust for inflation the maximum $250,000 compensation cap, allow judges and jurors to decide that compensation above the cap is appropriate in certain cases of catastrophic injury or death, and require that juries be informed about the existence of the cap. The current compensation cap was previously set by the California Legislature and former Gov. Jerry Brown in 1975.
