Opinion ID: 1182228
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Brown-Lockyer Civil Liabilities Reform Act

Text: In 1987, the Legislature enacted the Brown-Lockyer Civil Liability Reform Act (the Act). (Stats. 1987, ch. 1498, §§ 1-7, pp. 5777-5782.) One section of the Act amended Civil Code provisions governing exemplary damages in general. The Act increased the evidentiary threshold that must be met to recover punitive damages to clear and convincing evidence of oppression, fraud, or malice. The definition of malice was changed to include  despicable conduct done with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others. ( Id., § 5, p. 5780, italics added.) Another section of the Act added section 425.13 to the Code of Civil Procedure. As originally enacted, the section was not limited to medical malpractice. The statute provided, No claim for punitive damages against a health care provider shall be included in a complaint or other pleading unless the court enters an order allowing an amended pleading that includes a claim for punitive damages to be filed. (Stats. 1987, ch. 1498, § 7, p. 5782.) The next year the Legislature amended the section by incorporating former section 425.13 into new subdivision (a) of that section and by altering the first sentence to read,  In any action for damages arising out of the professional negligence of a health care provider, no claim for punitive damages shall be included.... (Stats. 1988, ch. 1205, § 1, p. 4028, italics added.) The Legislature further stated that this amendment was declaratory of existing law. ( Id., § 6, p. 4032.) The comments of the Assembly Subcommittee on the Administration of Justice regarding the foregoing amendment indicate the Legislature was concerned that the original version of section 425.13 was overbroad. The comment provides: Code of Civil Procedure section 425.13 was enacted last year as part of SB 241 (Lockyer). This bill is intended to correct an oversight. As written, Section 4215.13 [ sic ] could apply to any lawsuit against any health care provider.... Arguably, this could include lawsuits unrelated to the practitioner's practice, such as defamation, fraud, and intentional torts. [¶] The author [of the original version of section 425.13] asserts that the intention ... was to provide protection to health practitioners in their capacity as practitioners. Specifically, relief was sought from unsubstantiated claims of punitive damages in actions alleging professional negligence. There was no intent to protect practitioners in any other capacity. [The amendment] limits the application of Section [425.13(a)] to lawsuits involving allegations of a health practitioner's `professional negligence. ' (Assem. Subcom. on the Administration of Justice Rep. on Sen. Bill No. 1420, p. 1 (1987-1988 Reg. Sess.), italics added; second italics was bold-faced in original.) The Act was designed to address two problems. First, the Legislature sought in all cases to require greater certainty of the propriety of imposing punitive damages by requiring clear and convincing evidence of fraud, malice, or oppression and by modifying the definition of malice to include despicable, willful conduct. Second, because it was concerned that unsubstantiated claims for punitive damages were being included in complaints against health care providers, the Legislature sought to provide additional protection by establishing a pretrial hearing mechanism by which the court would determine whether an action for punitive damages could proceed. The Legislature expressed no intent to extend the protection of the original version of section 425.13 to actions unrelated to the practice of a health practitioner. Because this limitation was not immediately apparent from the statute, the Legislature amended the section to specify that it applied only when the action for damages aris[es] out of the professional negligence of a health care provider. (§ 425.13(a).) The Assembly subcommittee's comment emphasizes that lawsuits unrelated to a practitioner's conduct in providing health care related services were intended to be excluded from the ambit of section 425.13. (3a) Plaintiffs contend that the inclusion of the term intentional torts in the list of lawsuits assumed to be unrelated to the practitioner's practice demonstrates that the Legislature intended to exclude all intentional torts from the requirements of section 425.13. From our review of the history of the statute, however, we conclude that the reference to intentional torts by the author of the comments does not belie its statement of the essential purpose of the amendment  to restrict the application of section 425.13 to lawsuits brought against health practitioners in their capacity as practitioners.