Mother, Baby Each Win Damages for Naval Hospital Birth Injury

The US will have to pay a mother and baby the maximum amount of damages for noneconomic injuries they each would be entitled to if they’d filed separate medical malpractice lawsuits, the Ninth Circuit said.

California law caps noneconomic damages, including those for pain and suffering, at $250,000, but the California Supreme Court hasn’t addressed how the cap applies when there’s more than one plaintiff, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said June 2 in an unpublished opinion.

The Ninth Circuit predicted, based on lower court opinions and statutory language, that the state high court would allow ...