Legislation Allowing Medical Negligence Survivors To Recover Pre-death Pain And Suffering Passes the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Data Shows No Increase In Costs From Measure, says Consumer Watchdog

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Legislation that allows survivors of medical negligence to continue to recover damages for the pain and suffering of their loved ones before they died passed the California Assembly Judiciary Committee today with the support of all Democrats present. 

Until 2022, California was only one of only four states without pre-death pain and suffering damages – the right of survivors to recover damages for a victim's pain and suffering before they die. SB 29 (Laird) extends the right to collect pre-death pain and suffering until 2030. The measure has already passed the state senate.

Senator John Laird pointed out that there was no evidence of increases in medical malpractice premiums or claims as a result of the change made in 2022. In fact, there had been only one small medical malpractice premium increase from 2022 – 2025 for a small group of doctors. Data also shows very low claims payout rates in the year after the change took place.

"SB 29 helps even the scales of justice and allows survivors to find attorneys for their loved one's medical negligence cases," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog. "California's previous prohibition on pre-death pain and suffering effectively denied justice in cases of fatal medical negligence, where patients endured unimaginable pain, but their voices were silenced by death before a court could hear their story. This gave defendants an incentive to stonewall their cases until the patients died."

The change enacted in 2022 finally gave California families the ability to seek accountability for that suffering but the reform sunsets. SB 29 would preserve this essential right; a right that grieving families have had in other states, and ensure California is no longer an outlier in its failure to acknowledge victims' pain.

"I lost my son due to gross medical negligence and, at the time, there were no pre-death pain and suffering damages available," said Tammy Smick, a Consumer Watchdog board member whose son Alex Smick died at age 20 from a fatal overdose administered by a doctor at a facility where he was recovering from addiction. "That prevented my family from finding justice in a court of law because the damages were not great enough. The lifting of the ban on pre-death pain and suffering allows more survivors to seek justice so families are not locked out of the courts as I was. As Consumer Watchdog's research shows, there has been no increase in medical malpractice claims as a result of the changes."

Smick is a constituent of Assembly member Blanca Pacheco, who supported the bill in the Judiciary Committee today. 

New research conducted by Consumer Watchdog reveals that medical malpractice insurance loss ratios in California hit historic lows after the state lifted its ban on pre-death pain and suffering damages in 2022, undercutting industry claims that the law would raise costs.

Analysis by Consumer Watchdog actuary Ben Armstrong, FCAAS, MAAA, found that the average loss ratio, which is the percentage of premiums paid out in claims, for the top five medical malpractice insurance companies in California were among the lowest in history the year after the pre-death pain and suffering ban was lifted in 2022 – at a mere 7%.

"The idea that pre-death pain and suffering damages are driving up medical costs is a nothing burger," said Court. "With loss ratios at historic lows after the law's passage, the data clearly shows there is no cost impact to physicians or patients."

California's 10-year average loss ratio from 2014 to 2023 was just 35.8%, far below the national average of 50.6%, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). "California physicians continue to overpay for their medical malpractice premiums compared to physicians elsewhere based on lower loss ratios in the state," Court added.

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog