Ballot initiative seeks to raise Calif.’s medical malpractice cap
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Bob Pack wanted to go after the HMO doctors for recklessly prescribing painkillers to a drug-abusing nanny who ran over his 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter as they were heading for ice cream one early fall evening in 2003.
But under California’s 1970s-era medical malpractice law there was a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering. Instead of pursuing a case because of the cap, he settled so he could care for his wife, who lost the twins she was carrying in the crash.
“It would have been too difficult to tackle a private trial,” he said.
A November ballot initiative named after his children — Troy and Alana — seeks to raise the cap to $1.1 million. The campaign has prompted a ferocious fight between doctors and attorneys over the rights of injured patients with more than $102 million spent in one of the state’s most expensive ballot initiatives.
The campaign, which exceeds the most competitive U.S. Senate races this year, underscores the effect that reforms passed in California have on the rest of the nation. The 1975 malpractice law was the first in the nation, paved the way for roughly 30 states to adopt some limits on medical malpractice payouts and used as a template for national proposals.
Social Security benefits rising 1.75%
WASHINGTON — Come January, nearly 60 million Social Security recipients will get benefit increases averaging $20 a month, the third straight year of historically small pay hikes.
The 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, will also boost government benefits for millions of disabled veterans, federal retirees and people drawing disability payments for the poor.
Year after year of tiny increases are weighing on many older Americans.
“What is it going to cover? Not even the cost of one medicine,” said Louis Grosso, a 66-year-old retired doctor who lives in Philadelphia. “Do you know how much my cholesterol medicine is?”
The government an-nounced the benefit increase Wednesday when it released the latest measure of consumer prices. By law, the increase is based on inflation, which has been below historical averages so far this year.
American detained in N. Korea returns to Ohio
WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio — An American arrested and held for nearly six months in North Korea for leaving a Bible at a nightclub returned home to Ohio on Wednesday to tears of joy and hugs from his wife and surprised children.
A plane carrying Jeffrey Fowle, who was released with help from a retired diplomat and former Ohio congressman, landed Wednesday morning at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, where he was reunited with his family.
Moments after Fowle stepped off the plane, his three children and wife ran from a nearby airplane hangar and shared hugs.
Slide in energy sector drags US market lower
NEW YORK — Stocks fell broadly on Wednesday, snapping a four-day winning streak for the Standard &Poor’s 500 index, as investors shaken by recent swings in the market sold some of their holdings.
A slide in the price of oil dragged down energy stocks. Eight of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 fell, led by a 1.7 percent drop in energy. Small-company stocks also fell as traders unloaded riskier assets.
The S&P 500 dropped 14.17 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,927.11. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 153.49 points, or 0.9 percent, to 16,461.32. The Nasdaq composite fell 36.63 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,382.85.
By wire sources