Bob Pack wished to sue the HMO physicians for carelessly prescribing painkillers to a drug-addicted nanny who hit his ten-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter as they were getting ice cream in fall 2003. However, according to California’s 1970’s-era medical malpractice law, a $250,000 cap existed on pain and suffering rather than taking legal action due to the cap, he settled so he could look after his wife, who had a miscarriage in the collision.
The November 2014 ballot proposal named after Troy and Alana—Pack’s children—aimed to increase the medical malpractice cap to $1.1 million. The campaign had endorsed an intense conflict between physicians and lawyers over injured patients’ rights with over $102 million spent in one of California’s most costly ballot proposals.
