Medical negligence settlements
in California.
California applies pure comparative negligence and the MICRA cap on medical malpractice non-economic damages, restructured by AB 35 in 2023 onto a phased schedule. For medical negligence claims specifically, the band is built from the state-by-state tort law · jury verdict reporters · statutory caps framework and then adjusted for California's pure comparative negligence and any applicable statutory cap.
California applies pure comparative negligence, which means a medical negligence claimant who is partly responsible for their own injury still recovers — the award is reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to them, but never barred. This is materially more claimant-friendly than the modified or contributory rules in neighbouring jurisdictions, and it shows up in medical negligence settlements where comparative fault is contested (the claimant who failed to mitigate, the unbelted occupant, the worker who departed from a safety protocol).
For medical negligence claims specifically, statutory caps frequently apply to non-economic damages or to total recovery — California's caps (micra non-economic cap (med-mal), proposition 213) materially compress the upper end of the band. Catastrophic medical negligence cases that would otherwise produce seven- or eight-figure awards are routinely capped at the statutory ceiling.
The US band is the starting point. California's fault rule and any applicable cap then adjust the figure.