Liability Law

We commend your editorial (April 2), which urged reform of the state’s “deep-pocket” liability law. As you aptly point out in your illustration of the San Fernando Valley case, this ruling makes cities, counties and other insured defendants liable for huge payments, even though they are only slightly at fault.

Senate Bill 75, introduced by Sen. John Foran, (D-Daly City), would help correct this inequity. It would guarantee plaintiffs full recovery for tangible, economic losses such as medical costs, lost wages and property damages, while assigning proportionate responsibility among defendants for intangible, non-economic damages such as pain and suffering.

We solicit your--and your readers’--continued support of SB 75 in the California Assembly. Judiciary Committee Chairman Elihu Harris (D-Oakland) and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown Jr. (D-San Francisco) must be impressed effectively with the fact that taxpayers and patients are tired of paying for this abusive system.

CLARENCE S. AVERY MD

President

California Medical Assn.

San Francisco